Pentupfury's Stories
by hell-hath-frozen-over
Summary: A repost of pentupfury's stories that got lost in the purge


Important Disclaimer

This story was written by PENTUPFURY, it belongs to him and only him. The only reason it's available for viewing here is because it was deleted by the administrators of the website it was originally posted on and PENTUPFURY is no longer active.

This is a story originally written by Pentupfury, an author who had once been a registered member of the most popular fanfiction site on the web. Unfortunately he stopped writing a year ago, and his stories were deleted by the staff due to a change of rules.

Thankfully, some great readers were able to save some of these stories from being completely lost, and I was able to obtain a few copies from them. I'm uploading them here so everyone can read pentupfury's great work once more. I take no credit for this, and I was not involved in creation of any part of this story. This work belongs to pentupfury.

PS: Chapter 4 of this story is not missing, the author simply skipped that number for some reason. The story is continuous from the prologue till chapter 10.

Bloody Storm, Burning Wave

Author: PENTUPFURY

Summary: Lost in the purge

WARNING! Uzumaki incest! This fic is going to be a lot 'lighter' than my other's. There will probably be at least one lemon per chapter. The main characters will really be a cut above the rest so there won't be any dramatic "ultimate battles". They won't be dark but they will be without mercy for their enemies.

Prologue

Uzumaki Naruto was walking through the forest of Hi no Kuni humming slightly to himself. This was the nearest he had been to Konoha since he had left and he still wasn't sure why he was doing so. Sensing a large number of chakra signatures in the clearing ahead he debated if he should take a detour, or just walk right through. With a shrug he walked into the clearing. He was masking his presence, so nobody had noticed him yet but what he saw made him feel that they would soon be very much aware of him.

A young girl in bright orange was the first thing to catch his attention. Quite honestly with the way her clothes screamed 'I'm right here! Kill me!' he wouldn't be surprised if a blind man could find her. She was about 12 to 13 years old if he had to guess, and a bit short for her age. She was crouched in a rather sloppy approximation of the Konoha academy taijutsu stance, and was surrounded by two four man squads of ANBU with blank masks bearing the character 'ne' (root) on them.

The ANBU were all in battle stances, and all of them had flat tipped a ninjato drawn. Not one to let a young lady get killed by a bunch of emotionless robots he prepared to save the day.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

The girl's voice stopped him in his tracks for two reasons. One although it was slightly different and definitely younger, her voice sounded a lot like his mother's.

'And two, if she can use such a chakra expensive kinjutsu she must be a lot stronger than she looks.'

Naruto was no stranger to how deceiving appearances could be. He himself was a living example. When the Kyuubi attacked he was only eight years old but he was already jounin level, by thirteen he was on par with most kages and now he was fairly sure that he was one of the two or three strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations. Not that many were aware of the fact since he mostly kept to himself. He would hunt for meat and when he needed money for other supplies he would take on a few A-rank missing-nins or destroy some bandit camps.

He was dragged back to reality by a loud, inarticulate battle cry. He turned back to the fight and sweat-dropped. The girl had created an incredible amount of clones, but they were charging like headless chicken! Apparently his first impression was right; while she did have insane chakra reserves her skills were catastrophic.

Just as the last clone was dispatched the young blonde girl landed in a heap surrounded by the NE ABNU and Naruto's blood ran cold. He had just gotten a good look at her face and what he saw was…

"…Impossible."

She was not having a good day. It had been a week since the Sasuke retrieval mission and she had only just got out of the hospital when a cat masked ANBU had told her that she was summoned to the Council Chambers.

She had been banished from Konoha. BANISHED! They had accused her of using excessive force while bringing back the Uchiha. Sure he had been a bit bashed up, but he was only in the hospital for three days. She had been in there a whole week, and that was with Kyuubi healing her!

She had pleaded with them not to banish her. She even offered to do all the D rank missions! But they had just smirked at her and said that demons didn't have a place in their village.

The whole while her obaa-chan… no! She didn't deserve to be called that anymore. Tsunade had just sat there with a constipated expression and refused to even look at her.

She had been told she had three days to leave Hi no Kuni. She hadn't said goodbye to anyone but Teuchi-ossan and Ayame-nechan, the other girls were too busy mooning over the emo king and the guys weren't really her friends. They were nice enough but they weren't friends.

She had been running for about four hours when these weird ANBU had jumped in front of her. They had said that the council ordered her death for betraying Konoha. Bastards! They were probably going to make it look like she had committed suicide or something. Despite her happy go lucky attitude Natsuko held no delusions about her skills, or lack thereof. She knew she had no hope of winning against eight fully trained ANBU, so she decided to make a run for it.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU"

She sent her clones at the ANBU to distract them while the original tried to escape. Unfortunately for her the clones didn't last long enough and she was kicked back to the middle of the circle.

"Impossible."

The word was whispered but somehow everyone heard it. Looking up she saw a rather handsome shinobi standing at the edge of the clearing. He looked about seventeen or eighteen years old and was quite tall, probably just under six foot. He was wearing black combat boots, black and grey camouflage pants that gave a storm cloud effect, a dark grey T-shirt that clung to his sculpted body; and a knee length black trench coat. His hands were covered by fingerless black gloves with steel knuckles, and on his back was a black katana with a black sheaf. His hair was dark red and hung like a shoulder length mane framing his handsome face. She fought back a blush as she saw his stormy blue eyes look into her shy blue ones, she felt as if he was trying to see right into her soul. She remembered her dire situation when one of the ANBU pointed his sword at the newcomer.

"Piss of gaki! There's nothing to see here!" Completely ignoring the not so subtle hint he continued looking at Natsuko.

"What's your name kunoichi-san?" Again it was barely a whisper but it carried through the entire clearing. This time however there was an underlying rage that seemed to be barely restrained.

"Natsuko. Uzumaki Natsuko!" she answered in an uncharacteristically subdued voice.

Killing intent washed over the clearing and the rest of the forest in at least a two hundred yard radius. Natsuko could tell it wasn't targeted at her, a fact she was instantly grateful for. It was the most intense killing intent she had ever felt, it completely dwarfed what she felt from Zabuza or any of the other enemies she had face, hell it was stronger than what she felt from Kyuubi. No maybe it wasn't stronger but it was… different. It spoke of rage, of destruction of a death that couldn't be avoided, it was heavy, thick and suffocating and yet it seemed… precise, controlled.

Looking around she saw that all eight of the strange ANBU were on their knees shaking and sweating bullets. Her eyes widened as they exploded in a cloud of blood that hung between five to seven feet of the ground. A small 'click' drew her attention back to the unknown shinobi in time for her to see his hand leave the handle of his recently sheaved sword. She blinked as the 'clouds' started to rain onto the forest floor, covering the grass in a layer of fresh blood. It was an eerily beautiful sight. Natsuko turned back to this obviously powerful man, wondering what was going to happen to her now.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath. When he felt his temper subsiding, he opened them and motioned for the girl to follow. He then turned around and jumped into the trees, heading for the nearest village.

After a moment's hesitation Natsuko followed him.

Natsuko looked around the room suspiciously. They had ran for just over an hour to get to an average sized village and her 'guide', who's name she still didn't know, had got a room in the small inn. One room. Now, Natsuko was generally rather trusting but even she knew that following an insanely powerful and completely unknown individual into his room wasn't exactly a smart idea. On the other hand what could she do? He was an insanely powerful and completely unknown individual, who knows how he'll react if she starts resisting. The idea of becoming a little red cloud and raining blood on the futon he was setting up wasn't pleasant. She gulped slightly at what his current course of action could mean.

"W-what's the f-futon for?" She stuttered, wincing at the fear in her voice.

Naruto looked up from setting up the bedding, his eyes widened in realization. He answered quickly with a sweeping gesture of his arms.

"Ah! No! It's nothing like that! I just thought that since we're going to have to talk I'd set up the futons so we can be a bit more comfortable."

Following his arm movement Natsuko felt her fears dispersing. The room was a small one with no seating and just enough room to for two people to sleep. Deciding to be helpful she started setting up the second futon. This had the added benefit of helping her calm down. When she finished she sat down 'Indian style' facing the other occupant of the room. There was just two feet separating them now and she could see his face more clearly. She was quite surprised to see that he seemed… nervous? With a loud sigh he squared his shoulders and looked her in the eye with determination.

"I'm not sure how best to explain…" He made some wild hand gestures "...this." He sighed again before resuming "I'm just going to tell you about… well me! OK?" Natsuko blinked a few times and opened her mouth. Not quite sure what to say she closed it again and just gave a sharp nod.

"OK! Well I guess I'll start with my mother, she was a kunoichi of Uzugakure no Sato when it was attacked by the Kiri-Kumo-Iwa alliance. As I'm sure you know that was the start of third great shinobi war and very few Uzu-nin escaped the attack. My mother was one of those few. She eventually managed to get to Konoha and was granted asylum, but she didn't fight in the war since she had recently given birth to me. When I was born she decided to raise me rather than give me over to an orphanage like many kunoichi do. Luckily the war was pretty much over by then so she didn't have to worry about being call to the front lines. After a few years she met Minato Namikaze and they started dating. I never really liked the guy but I guess that was mostly because I didn't want to share my kaa-chan with him, so to speak. A year or so later they got married in secret and a year later she was pregnant. Now I still didn't like my stepfather much but the idea of having a little brother or sister was great! By this time I was about eight years old and I could have been considered a genius since I was already jounin level. But kaa-chan had always told me that it was never good for your enemies to know how strong you are, so I kept it a secret from everyone but her. Then on October 10th the Kyuubi attacked. As you probably know the only way to defeat a Bijuu is by sealing it and from Gobi upwards the only thing that can contain such power and not shatter is a newborn child. My bastard father-in-law decided that he couldn't ask another to sacrifice their child so he forced my kaa-chan into early labor. She died shortly after giving birth and only just had time to give my imouto a name." He took a deep breath and stared into her eyes. "She named her Natsuko."

Natsuko's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She wasn't stupid, far from it in fact. She had followed everything he said, even though she hadn't seen what it was leading to. But this? She could never have guessed this! She had always wanted to know if she had family. She hadn't even known if Uzumaki was her real name! And now she was talking to her brother? Well, half-brother according to his story. She felt anger welling up in her, were the hell had he been? Before she could explode at him he continued his story, unaware of her boiling emotions.

"Minato-teme took Natsuko-chan away using his Hiraishin no jutsu. I couldn't do anything to stop him and I was a wreck what with kaa-chan's death just moments before. I cleaned her up and sealed her body before falling asleep from exhaustion. When I woke up I went straight to the Hokage tower to find out what had happened and to take custody of my imouto-chan." Naruto's expression became desperate as his eyes started watering up. His voice cracked as he spoke and Natsuko felt her anger wither. She could almost fell his heartbreak and sadness, it was soul shattering. She felt tears start to build in her own eyes as he labored on. "When I got there Sarutobi told me that she had died in the sealing. I asked to see the body and he showed me. He said that she was a hero who had given her life for Konoha and that I should be proud. 'pfft' Bastard! He said he'd give me a moment alone, as soon as he left the room I seal her body with kaa-chan and made a run for it. I had already planned on leaving Konoha so I had everything with me. When the hunter-nin caught up to me I tricked them and staged my own death. Since then I've been wandering the Elemental Nations, training and learning new things. And now I've meet you. I swear if I had known you were alive I would have come back for you, even if I had to destroy all of Konoha to get you. But I didn't know. I didn't know." His voice trailed off at the end, barely more than a whisper. Natsuko frowned; she had a lot of questions. She decided to start with the simplest.

"So… you're my nii-san?" He nods yes. With that the dam broke and she launched herself at him, hugging him as if her life depended on it. Tears poured down her cheeks as she buried her face in his chest. She knew he was telling the truth, she almost always knew when someone was lying. It was the main reason she had stopped asking the Sandaime if he knew her parents, she didn't want to hear lies from one of the only people who was kind to her.

Naruto held her close as tears silently slid from his eyes. He cried tears of sadness for all the years that had been stolen from them, tears of happiness for being reunited with his imouto-chan. And perhaps a few tears of compassion for anyone who would try to harm her in the future because it would be the last thing they did before he shredded their body into a bloody mess.

They both fell asleep in each other's arms, exhausted by all the emotional revelations.

Natsuko woke up feeling better than she could remember ever feeling. She stiffened slightly when she felt a hand run through her hair but relaxed when she realized whose hand it was and snuggled into his chest.

"'morning onii-chan." She mumbled sleepily as he continued caressing her head.

"'morning Natsuko-chan." She blushed slightly as she felt his chest rumble, his voice a little deeper than normal.

"Ne Naruto nii-chan you said that you saw my body, how is that possible?"

Naruto sighed and sat up forcing Natsuko to do the same. She was about to grumble a bit about not wanting to get up yet when she saw him take his T-shirt of. She turned beet red at the sight of his toned abs and well developed chest. Luckily for her Naruto didn't notice this as he was concentrating on a seal located over his heart. He place the tip of his right index finger on it and channeled some chakra into it. There was a big puff of smoke as whatever was store in the seal was released. When the smoke cleared Natsuko saw a large crystal… tomb? It was about seven foot long, three foot wide and four foot high. It was completely transparent with a slight blue twinge to it and numerous seals carved into the sides.

Inside was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had crimson red hair that reached down to her lower back and contrasted with her pale creamy skin. Her eyes were closed, her face in a serene expression giving her a peaceful aura even in death. She was dressed in a white silk kimono that stopped just above her bare feet; it was decorated with a red Uzumaki swirl on the left breast. It was tied at the waist by an equally red ceremonial obi decorated with little white Uzumaki swirls. The outfit was a perfect combination, revealing her natural beauty and preserving her modesty. She wore no makeup, but that only made her more beautiful.

Natsuko blinked as she saw the diminutive form held on the crock of her mother's left arm. It was a baby, dressed exactly the same as her mother. She didn't have to ask who the baby was. If the three whisker marks on its cheeks didn't make it obvious the inscription just above the woman's head did.

"Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Natsuko: beloved mother and sister." She whispered reverently. She looked in confusion at the little… her? "I don't understand."

Naruto placed a hand on one of the seals and channeled some chakra into it. The top seemed to simply melt away as he explained.

"The casket is actually made of ice. I used hyouton manipulation to create it. The seals on the side draw nature chakra to sustain it and keep it from melting. Then there are blood seals so only a family member, in this case you or me, can open it. I put preservation seals on the bodies so they're in the exact same condition they were thirteen years ago. This was my way of keeping you both close to my heart, literally and figuratively."

Reaching in he pulled the 'baby Natsuko' out her mother's arms and started running his hand through her hair. Sensing her confusion he explained what he was doing.

"Since you're obviously not dead my best guess is that either Sarutobi-teme or Jiraya used a 'dead clone seal' to make me believe this was your body. Basically you take a dead body, the fresher the better, and place the seal on it using blood. Then you channel chakra into the seal to activate it and the corpse turns into a perfect copy whoever's blood you used. The seal isn't used much because med-nins know to check for it, but I this case it worked perfectly. I was already upset about kaa-chan's death so I wasn't thinking clearly enough to check and by the time I had calmed down I had already accepted the idea that you were dead. Now let's see who this really is."

Pushing enough chakra into the seal to break it Naruto stepped back to observe the transformation. The body slowly morphed into that of a young boy, maybe three or four years old.

"Damn that's creepy! I just hope the kid was dead to begin with and that they didn't kill him especially for this."

Natsuko paled at his words. After an awkward silence Naruto got to his feet and gently picked the dead child up.

"I'm going to bury this little guy and get something to eat. I'll be back in an hour so you can have some time with kaa-chan." He bent down a placed a small kiss on Natsuko's forehead and another one on Kushina's before leaving.

Naruto came back an hour latter to find a smiling Natsuko looking up at him. She had tear tracks down her cheeks but she also looked as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. He set two trays of food down between them. It was a simple meal of rice, steak, a meaty broth with vegetables in it, and some fruit. He sat down opposite her leaving Kushina's casket out. He felt she should be there for what he had planned to ask his imouto.

"So Natsuko-chan tell me what your life had been like. And don't leave anything out, I know the life of a demon vessel isn't easy but I want to know everything. Considering I found you being attacked by NE ANBU I can imagine it hasn't been too good."

And so she started telling him about her life. The glares and whispers. Being chucked out of the orphanage at four and living on the streets for months before she found her way to Sarutobi's office. Eating out of trash cans because none of the grocery stores would sell her food. How she became friends with Sakura, only to be dumped next day because her mother told her not to play with the 'demon brat'. How she would be thrown out of classes at the academy just for asking a question. How she failed the genin exam three times. How she got a team that was completely dysfunctional and a sensei that didn't teach them anything. Finally she told him about the Sasuke retrieval mission and her banishment.

By the time she finished the sun was already setting and they were in a similar position to the one they woke up in. Naruto was stroking her hair as she snuggled up to him with her head resting on his chest.

"Don't worry Natsuko-chan! From now on we're together and things are going to be different." He said in a soothing voice.

Chapter 01: Three years make a world of difference.

Warning: In this fic Natsuko was roughly thirteen and a half when she was banished.

Sitting at her desk in the Hokage Tower Tsunade sighed as she realized her stash of was empty. It wasn't surprising given the rate she went through the stuff. The last three years had not been good for Konoha; the fallout of Natsuko's banishment had been unexpectedly severe.

First Wave Country had cancelled all their trade treaties saying that they wouldn't have any kind of alliance with the village that banished their hero. She had read Kakashi's mission report and didn't understand what they meant since it said the mission success was due to Sasuke and his activation of the Sharingan. There was a note saying that Natsuko had accessed the Kyuubi's chakra but other than that there was little mention of her role. The Council had tried to negotiate but Tazuna, the mayor of Wave, had refused to even meet any of the envoys.

That had been bad enough for Konoha's economy but it was only the beginning. The alliance with Suna was at an all-time low, all trade and cooperation had been cancelled. The best she could expect from the new Kazekage was assistance in time of war. Again she didn't understand since the report said that Gaara's change of heart was due to the Uchiha.

Koyuki Kazahana, the Daimyo of the recently renamed Spring Country had also cancelled all trade agreements including the technology exchange program. The council, who had been salivating at the idea of having the secret of the Chakra Armor, had been outraged. All envoys had been sent back only this time they left with a promise of hostile reaction should they try again. Tsunade was no fool and started to doubt the truth of Kakashi's reports when she once again read of the Uchiha's 'great accomplishments'.

Tea Country had followed, as well as a number of minor villages the leaf had alliances with. The real shocker however was when the Fire Daimyo himself had come to Konoha. He had demanded answers and hadn't been pleased with what he had learnt. The military funding of the village had been cut by 40% indefinitely and half the higher ranking missions were sent to Suna.

She just couldn't see how one kunoichi had such an impact on so many people and in so many places.

Three years ago, when the Council had moved for the girl's banishment she had, at first, fought against it. After all it was because of Natsuko that she had been willing to come back to Konoha. Oh she held no illusions that she had a real choice. If she had refused to return the Council would have revoked her Sannin travel rights and she would either have been declared missing nin, or ANBU would have been sent to bring her back by force. But Natsuko had reminded her of her late brother and his desire to become Hokage to protect the village he loved. Eventually however she had caved in and agreed with the Council. She knew that most of the civilians just hated the 'demon brat' and wanted to get rid of her but some of their concerns were real.

First she had used the Kyuubi's chakra to the point that she defeated a level two curse seal. Tsunade knew that her old teammate's creation gave a large power boost so the kunoichi must have used large quantities of youki to bring back the stray Uchiha. His extensive wounds had been more than enough confirmation. The possibility of Kyuubi influencing its vessel was not to be taken lightly.

Secondly Jiraya had warned her of the Akatsuki and their quest to 'collect' all the Junchuriki. The Godaime had been pained to admit it but housing the target of a group of S-class criminals was a risk Konoha couldn't take. Her plan was to have Natsuko reinstated when Konoha had recovered from Orochimaru's failed invasion and was better prepared for such a conflict. She had ordered Jiraya to have his spy network keep an eye on her but that hadn't worked out the way she hoped. The girl had dropped off the face of the earth and the only reason they hadn't assumed her to be dead was because her name had still been on the frog contract. Half a year later that had no longer been the case, apparently she had signed another contract though they had no idea which one. Gamabunta had not been pleased.

The hardest blow however came from her apprentice. Shizune had been rather upset, scratch that she had been royally pissed-the-fuck off. At first Tsunade had thought that it would be a temporary thing since in all their years together the young woman had never stayed angry at her for long. How wrong she had been, three years later and Shizune still hadn't forgiven her. They barely spoke anymore and the younger had abandoned her post as Hokage's assistant in favor of working at the Hospital.

Just as her depression was starting to set in Tsunade's senses alerted her to a presence at her office window. Recognizing the chakra signature she didn't even turn as she spoke to the new arrival.

"What do you want Jiraya?"

"Tsu-hime my spy network just informed me that Akatsuki attacked Suna and have got Gaara." She turned so fast it was a miracle her head didn't snap off.

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday, if we move now we can get there in time to help. Maybe we can repair Suna-Konoha relations too." She nodded, saving the Kazekage would definitely improve relations but something was bothering her.

"Why didn't they send for help?" Jiraya sighed. He had hoped to avoid the question.

"From what my informant told me they don't trust Konoha with their kazekage's safety, something about not knowing the difference between a demon and a vessel." Tsunade winced at the remark. She pushed the inter-com button on her desk.

"Get team Kakashi I have an urgent mission for them."

A small puff resounded through the silence of the desert of Wind Country as a bottle of cool water was unsealed. Natsuko tucked the storage scroll back into her belt as she as she took a long gulp. Over the last three and a half years she had grown to a respectable 5'5" thanks to a healthy diet and constant training. Her dress code had changed drastically from the orange nightmare she used to ware. She now wore low cut black pants that clung tightly to her hips but were baggy from mid-thigh down and ended tucked into black combat boots. Her midriff was uncovered, showing off her toned belly and slim waist. A camouflage style black and red mini-T-shirt covered her large C-cup breasts. Finally she wore black fingerless gloves with steel knuckles and a black trench coat. With her thin whisker marks, sky blue eyes and long vibrant blonde hair she cut a very attractive figure. She was now seventeen years old and more than happy with how her life had turned out.

She smiled fondly as she looked at her partner. She wasn't sure how things would have turned out if she hadn't met him but she doubted that it would have been good. He hadn't changed much in their time together. Actually he hadn't changed at all and while he looked to be the same age as her, he was actually eight years her senior. She knew why of course, but it was still an amusing thought. He was dressed similarly to her, black boots and baggy black combat pants, tight sleeveless black and red camouflage T-shirt, black fingerless gloves and black trench coat with his black katana strapped to his back.

Natsuko sighed contentedly and took another gulp of water. It was amazing to her, how three years could make a world of difference.

FLASHBACK THREE YEARS AGO

Natsuko looked down at the seal her newfound nii-chan had written on her left forearm. It looked like a plain circle but considering her previous experience with seals she was rather weary of it.

"So what does this seal do exactly Naruto-niichan." He gave her an evil smirk that that put her even more on edge.

"It's a combination of training seals. It increases the weight on all of your body in a similar fashion to gravity seals and it increases resistance making movement harder. When you channel chakra into it a number will appear in the circle. Each time you channel chakra into it the number will increase showing what level you're at."

Natsuko pushed a little chakra into the seal and watched as it glowed and a number '1' appeared inside the circle. As expected she felt an increase in weight and it became harder to move. It was as if the air had become a bit thicker, or like moving under water. Still, while it was noticeable she had expected a bigger difference.

"Level 1 isn't too bad, should I go straight to level 2?" She asked. Naruto shook his head.

"No, I want you to get used to level 1 first. You'll probably ask me at some point so I'll explain right now. When I train I always take the time to master a stage before I move on to the next one. For your physical training that means increasing the weights a little at a time and making sure you can perform perfectly before you increase them again. There's no point in getting faster and stronger if your form becomes sloppy is there? You'll find it annoying at first, having to rework all your katas each time you move up a level, but you'll get used to it and I promise the results will be worth it."

She seemed to accept what he said which came as a relief since most ninja wanted results as soon as possible. He also knew that her trust came, in part, from the fact that someone was finally taking an interest in her training.

"So what are you going to teach me?"

"Let's see… when you used kage bushin there was a lot of wasted chakra, so we'll have to work on your control. Your taijutsu is… well let's just say it needs a lot of work. You don't have a sword so I suppose you don't know any kenjutsu, I'll teach you that from scratch. I'll also teach you fuinjutsu. There are loads of things I can teach you that aren't shinobi skills but are still very useful. So yeah I've got loads to teach you, in a couple years' time you'll be stronger than most jounin. When you get to that level we'll start taking missions so you can get some experience."

Natsuko frowned. "How am I going to learn all that in just two years? I mean if it was that easy everyone would be super strong."

Naruto smiled softly. "First the fact that you aren't dead despite basically receiving no training whatsoever shows that you have a lot of potential. Second you have me as your personal sensei. And third we're going to make use of the insane amount of kage bushins we can make."

The frown on Natsuko's face was becoming a permanent fix. "How will kage bushin help in training?"

Naruto almost jaw dropped. How did she not notice with the amount of bushins she can make?

'I guess she only uses them in battle situations. In that case she wouldn't have time to process the memory feedback.'

"Well you see originally kage bushin no jutsu was an Uzumaki technique. The Uzumaki clan was kind of famous for having very large chakra reserves but as a result they had rather bad control. One of the smarter clan members created a clone that could work on chakra control for him. That's the kage bushin, anything the clone learns will go back to the original through memory feedback. For most shinobi the jutsu is too costly but for an Uzumaki it's the best training method there is."

Natsuko's enthusiasm started boiling up as she realized the possibilities. She jumped to her feet and pumped her fist in the air.

"This is great! I'll be able to train in everything. I'll be kicking shinobi butt in no time!"

"Hey! Hey! Calm down. Even with kage bushin we're still going to take it bit by bit. For the first month we'll have two groups of bushins. The first will work on basic chakra control exercises. Tree walking, water walking, leaf balancing, and kunai balancing. The second group will work on taijutsu. I don't really use a single style because with kage bushin I can master a style just through muscle memory. We'll do the same for you, first with the basic style then the more elaborate ones. While your clones are doing their thing I'll supervise your physical training. This is the only thing kage bushin can't help you with. You'll start every morning at sun rise by doing sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, squats and jumping jacks. Then we'll spar until lunch time. It'll be hard at first but this way you'll learn to save your energy. After lunch we'll travel for a few hours and spar again. When we're done we'll set up camp and turn in for the night. "

END FLASHBACK

That first month had gone well. Natsuko took to taijutsu like a fish to water. She absorbed the different styles at an incredible rate and could switch from one to another in the blink of an eye. As he had predicted their spars were short to begin with. While he never went all out he didn't go easy on her either. He would fight at a level that would make for a long fight in which she never had a moments rest. After the first week or so she was learning to move efficiently and to wait for the right moment to attack rather than just charging in. From then on the spars became longer and harder every day.

Her chakra control group made good progress, but she still had a ways to go since Kyuubi's presence made her chakra reserves even larger than her Uzumaki bloodline.

When the month was over Naruto was more than satisfied with her progress and ready to move on to the next stage. By then they had crossed to the very north of the Elemental Countries.

FLASHBACK

They were currently standing on a large flat platform carved right out off the side of a mountain. It looked as if someone had tried to chop the top off only to stop half way through, leaving a smooth horizontal floor and equally smooth vertical wall. The platform itself cut about five hundred feet into the mountain and was roughly twice as long. Natsuko wasn't sure how high up they were and she really didn't want to think about it. She watched her brother as he placed his hand on a seemingly random part of the wall. There was a faint glow and a door sized rectangular hole opened soundlessly. Naruto walked in without a word. She had come to expect that of her nii-chan. He would always explain things in detail and was would be happy to answer any question she asked, but when no words were needed no words were spoken. After being alone for the best part of thirteen years it wasn't all that surprising. Following him she found herself in a long tunnel with the same dimensions as the entrance. Which had closed after she passed through it? The walls and ceiling gave a soft blue glow allowing her to see where she was going. After twenty feet she stepped out of the tunnel and felt her jaw drop.

If she hadn't known better she would have thought she just stepped into a daimyo's garden. They were standing at the edge of a large circular cave. It was five hundred feet across and one hundred high. Despite being inside a mountain there was soft grass growing on the floor. To her left there were a variety of fruit trees and bushes. A small river ran from one side to the other about half way in, with a little wooden bridge crossing it. To the right the river ended in a crystal clear pond with exotic fish swimming around. On the other side of the river there was a small one story traditional style house and a Sakura tree.

"OK how in the name of Kami-sama did you get a Sakura tree in here?" Natsuko asked incredulously. Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I put in a storage seal." He replied dryly. Natsuko blinked, blushed and looked down in embarrassment. The answer was quite obvious really. Naruto gestured and they started walking towards the house.

"This is easily my greatest non-combat related achievement. I have five other safe houses exactly like this one throughout the Elemental Nations. The only thing that changes is the location. The others are all underground rather than hidden in a mountain. They're also much closer to civilization. Being the most isolated this one is by far the best for training. Everything is powered by seals, the artificial sunlight; the temperature; the river's flow. I even have a hot spring on the other side of the house. There are also seals to keep the water and air pure. The entire cave is surrounded by security seals with a blood seal at the entrance, so even if we are attacked here we'll have plenty of time to react. There are three emergency exits by the way."

He turned to see his sister gapping like a fish out of water and grinned in satisfaction.

"I know! It's great isn't it? I never thought I'd trust anyone enough to share it." He ended in a melancholy tone that pulled Natsuko from her stupor. She walked up and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

"It's beautiful onii-chan." She mumbled. "It's perfect."

Naruto grinned and slid an arm around her back and the other under her legs. He picked her up bridal style, causing her to 'eep', and carried her across the bridge and into the house.

END FLASHBACK

They had spent the next week relaxing after their long journey, swimming in the pond, sitting under the Sakura tree, or bathing in the hot springs. The safe house hadn't been built with privacy in mind since Naruto hadn't intended to have company of any kind. But they had developed a close relationship and weren't bothered by the proximity they had to share.

FLASHBACK

They were now on the training area outside the mountain safe house, or as Natsuko called it, the ledge of doom.

"As you've noticed this training ground has a potentially dangerous particularity. Being a freakishly smooth surface at a rather high altitude there are often gusts of wind that vary from a gentle breeze to a freezing gale. I didn't actually plan that when I was cutting the rock but I decided to leave it as it is. This will force you to always be on guard. At any moment a powerful wind could blow through and you'll have to use chakra to stick to the floor. Believe me you don't even want to think of falling from this height! Now! I want you to take this and channel some chakra into it."

Taking the small piece of paper she did as she was told and pushed chakra into it. To her surprise it split in half vertically, then after a moment the left half burst into flames and the right half crumbled to dust. She dropped the paper so as not to get burnt and leveled a mild glare at her brother. Ignoring her displeasure, Naruto nodded at the results.

"That was chakra paper used to test elemental affinities. In your case you have a primary affinity for wind. That was the paper splitting in two. Then you have strong affinities in fire and earth. Those were respectively indicated by the flames and the dust."

"I take it that's a good thing?" She asked observing his satisfied expression a little warily. Naruto just shrugged.

"It's neither good nor bad really, it's not the elements that matter but what you do with them. Anyway, down to business! From now on the training schedule will be a bit different. Most noticeable is that we no longer have to travel so we'll be training in the afternoons as well."

Natsuko let out a groan upon hearing that. She was glad to have a dedicated sensei but her nii-chan was a merciless slave driver. It was a testament to his demanding nature that the most relaxing moments over the last month were their daily runs to cross Elemental Nations. The thought of being pushed to the limit all day long was daunting to say the least. She steeled her resolve and rekindled her determination. She was Uzumaki Natsuko by kami! Nothing would make her give up.

Seeing his sister getting psyched up Naruto grinned widely and explained the training plan.

"Your mornings will start the same, up at sunrise to do your warm ups. Then we'll spar until lunch as usual. During that time I want you to a group of kage bushin working on advanced chakra control. Another group will work on mastering one of your elements, I'll let you choose which. Finally I want a group working on fuinjutsu. I'll let you choose how many clones to have per group just make sure you don't slack off. Any questions so far?"

"Why am I only working on one element? Can't I just use clones to work on all of three?" She asked with a cute pout. She may have calmed down over the last month but the prospect of throwing all kinds of jutsu around was just too tempting. Naruto answered with a chuckle.

"You could but in the long term this way will yield better results. By training three elements at the same time you're more likely to miss something. A little detail can make the difference between good and perfect." Seeing her nod in understanding he continued. "After lunch the training will be much more theoretical. We'll both make groups of clones and mine will tutor yours in all sorts of skills and knowledge, from engineering to first aid to cooking."

Natsuko raised an eyebrow. She could understand engineering since might help if she had to destroy a bridge or something. First aid was a given, not everyone has a Kyuubi enhanced healing factor. But…

"Why the hell do I have to learn about cooking?" She half yelled.

"Have you ever eaten a ration bar?" He replied in with a deadpan voice and a slight shiver of disgust. Her eyes widened and she nodded her head vigorously. Those things were vile! She made a silent oath to pay extra attention to the cooking lessons.

"I'm not sure how long it will take for you to learn everything, but when you have you will be able to use the afternoons for elemental and fuinjutsu training. In the evenings we'll cover genjutsu, kenjutsu and other things but the pace will be slower so we can cool of before bed time." He finished with a large smile. It took everything she had to not pummel him for using such a jovial tone to describe her torture/training. Instead she just heaved a wary sigh.

'It's going to be a long couple of years!'

END FLASHBACK

From that point on time seemed to lose most of its meaning. The repetitive training made each day blurred into the next. Natsuko's only solace was that they took Sunday's off. The old Natsuko, the one who tried everything to gain people's attention, would have disregarded her sensei's words and trained all her elements at the same time. Having a teacher who explained why he wanted her to do something rather than just telling her to do it made a lot of difference. She had decided to start with wind manipulation since she shared the element with her onii-chan. It took her just under a week to cut a leaf in half. Naruto had been well prepared and had apparently collected, and sealed, thousands of leaves during their month long journey. She had expected to start learning all sorts of cool jutsu.

FLASHBACK

"So onii-chan what cool jutsu are you going to teach me some cool futon jutsu?" Natsuko asked as she bounced on her heels in anticipation.

"No." He answered simply, stopping her in mid-bounce.

"Whaaat? Why not?" She asked incredulously. With a sigh Naruto replied.

"Normally from here the next exercise would be to cut a waterfall using wind chakra. As always however I've come up with a better way to do things. The waterfall exercise is basically the same as the leaf exercise, the only difference is that you have to convert and pump out a lot more chakra."

Natsuko's face scrunched up as she concentrated, trying to see where this was going. The main thing she had come to realize was that where many would say 'better quality than quantity' Naruto would say 'better quality AND quantity'. That was it!

"So rather than move on to making more wind chakra you want me, to learn to control what I can make first." She said, causing him to give her a proud smile.

"Exactly! Start by taking a leaf, but instead of cutting it in half I want you to cut a swirl in it. When you've got that down choose another pattern, and so on until you think you can cut anything you want into it. When you've got that down you can move on to the waterfall exercise."

She nodded and created a batch of fifty clones and unsealed a scroll of leaves. She was really growing to hate the things.

END FLASHBACK

At first she had been a little upset about not learning any jutsu. However when she moved on to cutting shapes in a waterfall a few miles away from the safe house she realized the great advantage of what Naruto had taken to calling the 'Uzumaki training style'. For the average shinobi, those who use the standard training method, hand signs made up for the lack of control over the element. With her ever increasing skill in manipulating wind she could shape it without hand signs. She couldn't yet do anything too complicated. But she now had the incentive needed to push through the repetitive exercises.

It took six months of kage bushin to fine tune futon manipulation, when she had completed training her wind element she decided to move on to the next. However when she told Naruto she got an unexpected response.

FLASHBACK

They had just finished their morning warm ups (Naruto does them too so he stays in top shape). Before creating the morning work groups Natsuko drew her brother's attention.

"Onii-chan I'm ready to move on to fire manipulation now!" He just nodded. He had seen her progress and knew that she was ready. She could still make some improvements but that was to be expected.

"OK I'll get you started on that but I'll also want you to study the contents of this scroll." He handed her a medium sized scroll with the kanji for wind on it. Unrolling the scroll she found that it was covered in storage seals with names of wind jutsu under them. She saw names like 'futon: daitoppa', 'futon: rekudan' and 'futon: kaze no yaiba' written on it. She looked at him with raised brows.

"What's this for? I mean I can probably do all of these through wind manipulation so why bother learning them?" She asked.

"Because others will use them, if you can recognize the sequence of hands seals your opponent is making you'll know what jutsu he or she is going to use before he or she does it." She nodded in understanding. "Right! Now let's move on to fire manipulation. There are two ways to start, the first is to take a leaf in your hand and set it on fire. The second is to charge fire chakra into your lungs and breathe it out. When you've got that down I want you to try and work out the next step yourself. I'll help if need be, but it's best if you create your own advanced manipulation exercises. Like I said before the problem with most shinobi is that they're too lazy to work things out themselves."

END FLASHBACK

Mastering katon manipulation took longer than futon. Having to figure it out for herself made it harder but she got there in the end. The first part that she got down was changing the chakra in her lungs into katon chakra and exhaling a ball of fire. She guessed that it was because the air contained in her lungs was easier to ignite than the air around her hands. To practice her control she would compress the fire into smaller and smaller balls, making them incredibly hot. Once she was able to set a leaf on fire with her fingers she found that 'lung fire' was generally hotter and 'finger fire' was easier to shape. She eventually developed a system where she would shape the fire with her fingers and then breathe more heat into it.

Once her second element was on par with her first she moved onto earth.

FLASHBACK

"OK! Natsu-chan doton manipulation will be like katon in that I won't be able to help you beyond the basic exercises."

He took out a scroll and unsealed the contents. When the smoke cleared she could see a huge pile of pebbles. Rather than asking she just waited for an explanation.

"In books you'll read that the exercise is to turn the pebbles to dust. What you actually want to do is use your chakra to change their density. That includes turning them to dust but also the opposite, making them harder." He brought his hand to his chin in a thinking pose, and then shook his head. "That's all! You'll have to work out the rest yourself. By the way we've been here for just over thirteen months. At the end of the second year we'll be leaving to get some fighting experience. We'll still be training but I want you to get earth manipulation down before then. I've also got something else to teach you in regards to elemental chakra so the faster you finish the better."

END FLASHBACK

Natsuko's series of flashbacks were interrupted as her brother gave her arm two short taps. She looked at him questioningly. Naruto handed her a pair of binoculars and pointed to their left. She brought them to her eyes and scanned the horizon for what had caught his attention.

"That was pretty easy, yeah!" Said Deidara enthusiastically, "No one can stand against my art, yeah!"

Sasori gave no reply as they made their way across the desert. They had just captured the Ichibi Jinchuuriki and were headed towards the cave that had been prepared for the Bijuu's extraction. Flying a dozen feet above the ground Deidara's clay bird was carrying an unconscious Sabaku no Gaara. The young Kazekage had fought valiantly and had been winning, but in the end he had sacrificed his victory to protect his village from the ex Iwa-nin's bombs.

The Akatsuki and their prisoner were now approaching the border with River Country. A blur of movement made them stop as a pair of ninja in black trench coats landed in front of them. The two duos observed each other in silence. The S-class 'artists' weren't worried, after all relatively few shinobi were a threat against them, and even less would attack them since they were wearing the distinctive Akatsuki cloaks. These two were probably upstart missing-nin trying to make a name for themselves.

The Uzumakis launched into action, surprising their opponents who were expecting boastful introductions and speeches. Natsuko thrust her hands forwards and a wave of large sand shot forwards, Deidara dodged to the left and Sasori to the right. The wave of sand passed between them and curved up towards the clay bird. It dived down, barely escaping the attack as it scraped over its back. Gaara was somehow unharmed but neither had time to question the occurrence.

Naruto slammed a fist into his foe and a metallic 'clang' confirmed his suspicions. He and Natsuko had observed the Akatsuki members for a while before attacking, Deidara of the Rock had been easy enough to identify from his description in the Bingo Book but the other had taken a while. It was only when they caught a glimpse of the wooden tail that they guess they were looking at a puppet, and that it was most likely controlled by Sasori of the Red Sands. He pushed of and flipped backwards to a safe distance as the tail tried to pierce his chest. He reached up and grabbed the hilt of his katana, drawing its black blade from the sheaf.

Deidara ducked a punch from Natsuko but couldn't dodge the knee that was sent at his face. He flipped over as he flew back and landed on his feet. Natsuko charged forwards and threw a combination of punches and kicks with roughly half hitting their mark. Realizing he was outmatched in taijutsu the missing-nin sprung backwards and his hand-mouths each spat out a clay dragonfly that headed straight for the blonde.

Naruto pumped wind chakra into his blade as Sasori's tail took a swipe at him. He kicked off the ground so his body was parallel to the desert floor, as the wooden appendage passed under him he spun on a horizontal axis. His blade passed through the wood and metal of the puppet like a knife through butter. As soon as he touched down Naruto twisted clockwise on his right foot and sliced in an upwards diagonal motion releasing a crescent shaped blade of wind that cut through the side of the 'tank' causing it to blow apart in a burst of smoke.

Natsuko rolled to the side to avoid the clay dragonflies just before they exploded. She pushed forwards and blew a wide ball of fire to intercept the incoming swarm of explosive insects. She ran through the dust cloud and drop kicked Deidara sending him flying back towards their starting spot with a satisfying crack as at least two ribs broke. Planting a hand on the ground she spun her legs in a helicopter motion and twisted her waist, ending up on her feet facing her opponent as he struggled to stand.

Naruto stared in fascination at the wooden man that emerged from the smoke. To take the art of puppetry to such a level was amazing. Sasori unrolled a scroll and a puff of smoke erupted, when it cleared a force of a hundred human puppets. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Natsuko with her back to him as she waited for Deidara to get to his feet. He smirked and pumped chakra into a kunai before throwing it at her and using shushin.

A few hundred yards away two kage bushin dispelled themselves.

Natsuko felt her clone dispel and received the flow of information from Naruto's fight. She grinned and took a deep breath as she dashed at Deidara. When she felt her brother's kunai closing in on her head she jumped high into the air and flipped back so she was upside-down with Sasori beneath her. Seeing his new opponent the puppet user had his wooden army send a veritable forest of arms, each equipped with a poison coated blade. Natsuko exhaled a stream of very hot humid air that bathed the attackers in a haze that would put any tropical climate to shame. The unorthodox technique destroyed the poison and damaged the puppets' joints, reducing their speed and agility. Natsuko weaved through the severely weakened wood soldiers, destroying them as she made a beeline for their master.

Deidara's eyes trailed Natsuko in confusion as she jumped away, seemingly abandoning the fight. Suddenly his danger senses went haywire as he heard the low whistle of a kunai. He only just twisted his torso in time to avoid the weapon impaling his heart. He winced as it cut his right bicep. Deidara's eyes widened in horror at the amount of blood that came from the wound, even more so when instead of falling on the sandy floor it rose to a good ten twenty feet above the ground and formed a large blood red storm cloud.

"What the hell?"

Naruto's shushined a short distance from the bomb user just as the blood cloud started to take form. His opponent's shocked exclamation brought a smirk to Naruto's face but rather than gloat he channeled more chakra into his jutsu and molded it to his will. There was a low thunderous rumble as parts of the red cloud darkened. He let out a small sigh as Deidara remained transfixed by the miniature chakra generated storm, this always happened. He had created it with the awe factor in mind, it drew the enemy's attention and then… A 'crack' resounded and a jagged beam of black lightening arced from the cloud and struck straight through Deidara's heart.

Deidara didn't even blink, his face held in an expression of amazement as he keeled over and fell to the ground. Dead.

Natsuko slammed her fist into her opponent's wooden body but only scored a passing blow as he dodged to the side. She spun on her heel to deliver a roundhouse kick to his chest but had to jump back as he slashed at her with a blade that emerged from his forearm. Natsuko ducked and swerved the blows from the remaining puppets as she tried to work out a way to kill a wooden man. Suddenly the clay bird dropped to the ground between them brining the fight to a halt. Natsuko and Sasori looked to their left to see naruto walking towards them and a dead Deidara behind him.

Before they could react Sasori grabbed the still unconscious Gaara and held his blade arm to his throat.

"Stay where you are or I'll kill him." He spoke in a low monotone.

"What makes you think we care?" Naruto asked calmly. They did care of course, but is he doubted that it might make things easier.

"I don't know who you are but I recognize Uzumaki Natsuko. Unless she wants he fellow Jinchuuriki's head cut off you'll stay where you are." He answered and he started backing away.

Naruto made to go after him but Natsuko held him back.

"Naruto-kun don't!" She pleaded.

As Sasori was out of striking distance he turned and ran, carrying his charge on his shoulder and never noticing the smirks on Naruto and Natsuko's faces. They waited for a minute and Naruto turned to his sister.

"I think that's long enough don't you?"

She nodded and brought her hands up in a ram seal.

"Bushin Daibakuha!"

A quarter mile away a youki charged kage bushin, henged to look like the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, exploded disintegrating everything in a thirty foot radius.

Natsuko smiled widely as the clone's memories came back to her.

"Well that wasn't too hard!" She exclaimed.

"We had a good plan, and didn't give them time to react. Now let's go see your friend."

They started running towards Suna and quickly caught up with the group of four clones (two each) that were carrying the still unconscious Gaara. Dispelling the clones Naruto did a quick check to see if anything was wrong and found a small paper tag on the back of his neck.

"There's nothing too serious but they put a suppressor seal on his neck. It blocks the Ichibi's youki and stops it from healing him, once I take it off he should be back to normal in no time."

He pushed some chakra into the seal and deactivated it. He could just rip the tag of but it was always best to be careful with fuinjutsu. Naruto slung the young Kazekage over his shoulder and they headed off across the desert at full speed.

The sun was just setting on Sunagakure no sato and Sabaku no Temari was briefing a group of the best jounin in Suna for the Gaara rescue mission. There had been talk of asking for help from Konoha but the idea was shot down when one of the shinobi said that considering how they treated their Jinchuuriki it might be putting Gaara in danger from his rescuers as well. With the increase in missions it had taken almost two days for the team to be assembled since many jounin were outside the village. They would have to make haste to catch the Kage-nappers.

Suddenly a chunin appeared next to her.

"Temari-sama two shinobi in black have been spotted heading towards the village gates at high speed. They'll be here in a matter of minutes."

Temari turned and ran towards the village entrance. She hoped that it wasn't Akatsuki again, if it was they wouldn't be able to go after her brother. She tensed when the people they were waiting for came to a stop a short distance from her. They looked like they were in their late teens and, other than the red on their red T-shirts, were dressed all in black. She didn't think they were Akatsuki but that didn't mean they were allies, an opinion shared by the rest of her group if the drawing of kunai was anything to go by.

"Wow! We're not looking for a fight!" Naruto said as he took a few steps forwards and placed Gaara on the ground before stepping back.

"Gaara!" Temari ran up to her brother "What's wrong with him?" She asked with a small glare.

"He's just unconscious," Natsuko answered in a placating manner "those Akatsuki guys put a seal on him to stop his demon from healing him. Naruto-kun took it off so he should wake up soon."

Temari blinked as she recognized the kunoichi that defeated her brother at the chunin exams and her eyes widened, she had grown quite a bit and wasn't wearing the orange nightmare so she looked quite different. In fact if it wasn't for the whisker marks on her cheeks she would have thought it was someone else, and even those were thinner than she remembered.

"Natsuko-san?"

Natsuko grinned and gave a cheeky wave. Scrambling to her feet Temari bowed deeply.

"Arigatou! For bringing my otouto back!" She motioned for them to follow her as Gaara was carried into the village, "But how did you know we had been attacked by Akatsuki?"

Natsuko chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

"We didn't! We were crossing the desert and kind of bumped into them." She confessed, causing Temari to sweat drop. The Suna kunoichi's eyes then strayed over to Naruto.

"Who are you?" She asked bluntly. He arched an eyebrow.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he replied, "Natsuko's partner."

Temari nodded and they walked in silence to the hospital where Gaara was placed in a bed to recover as doctors started running diagnostic jutsu over him. Natsuko looked at the person occupying the next bed.

"Hey! Is that makeup boy?" She asked incredulously, pointing at a clean faced Kankuro.

"Yeah! That's him." Laughed Temeri.

"He looks like he's been poisoned." Naruto said as he observed the young man's feverish form. Temari sighed.

"He is! He was poisoned by Sasori's puppet, there's nothing the med-nin can do." Her answer caused Naruto to frown. He knew quite a few healing jutsu but he wasn't an expert, since neither he nor Natsuko had to worry about poison. Sasori was renowned for his skill with poison so there would be no easy antidote. But…

"Do you have a sample of his blood? I mean a non-infected sample." Naruto asked.

A small glint of hope appeared in Temari's eyes and she quickly told one of the nurses to get the blood sample.

When the nurse came back Naruto took the blood pack and filled a syringe. He paused in thought, he had never tried something like this so he was trying to anticipate how it would work out. Coming to a plausible scenario he created a kage bushin and pumped more chakra into it. The reinforced clone took the syringe and channeled chakra into it before emptying it in midair.

The observers were surprised when, instead of falling to the floor, the blood sample hung like a small cloud. Clone Naruto then moved towards Kankuro and directed the blood to his bare chest. They watched transfixed as it sunk into him and disappeared from view. One of the med-nin turned to Naruto, looking alternately between him and his doppelganger.

"What kind of med-jutsu is that?" She asked eagerly. Natsuko snorted. Naruto sent her a mild glare before answering.

"It's not. It's an assassination jutsu."

"…"

"Whaaaat?" Temari screamed and ran to try and save her brother, although how she intended to do so was a mystery. She was stopped by Natsuko's hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, let him explain first." She turned to her brother and stared him in the eye, "You had better explain or else." She trailed off leaving him to guess the end of her threat.

Naruto paled considerably. While what she was implying would be a punishment for her as much as it would be for him, he knew just how stubborn she could be.

"OK! OK! I'll explain!" He said hastily, "The blood cloud is an original jutsu that works by taking a blood sample and using chakra to copy the blood's 'signature'. Everybody's blood is different, by using that difference I can target my enemies for assassination. Are you following so far?" At the collective nod, and knuckle cracking from Temari, he pursued his explanation, "When I have my target I can attack in two ways: identification and discrimination. Identification works by locking on to the target and striking at it, avoiding everything else. Discrimination works by locking on to the target but striking at everything else, avoiding it totally. In Makeup Boy's case the target is his blood and I'm attacking by discrimination, so it will strike at everything else and most importantly Sasori's poison. I guess you could say I'm assassinating the poison."

There was silence as they absorbed his words.

"Why is the clone doing it? Why not do it yourself?" The med-nin asked.

"As I said it's not a healing jutsu, I can only destroy the poison in his blood stream. I have to wait for the poison that's passed into other areas to cycle back to be destroyed and I don't feel like staying here all night, hence the clone." Naruto replied with a shrug. His lips twitched in a hint of a grin, "Speaking of 'all night' I'm whacked! Is there a good hotel we can stay in?"

Temari directed them to the best Hotel in the village, saying that all expenses would be covered and apologizing for not accompanying them. She wanted to stay at her brothers' sides.

Word of their rescue of the Kazekage had already got around town. As a result they were given the best suite in the hotel and told that if they needed anything to call for room service.

LEMON WARNING: INCEST

Naruto followed Natsuko into the room and locked the door behind them.

Toeing his boots off of his feet he crept up behind her, slipped his arms around her slim, toned waist and gently nibbled her left earlobe. Natsuko let out a soft moan as he stimulated the sensitive area.

"I thought you said you were whacked?" She asked in a sensual voice, smirking as she felt 'Little Naruto' press into her rear.

"I've always got energy for this," He said huskily, "besides; you shouldn't have used the 'no sex' threat. It just makes me want you even more."

His right hand slid down and rubbed her lower regions through the cloth of her pants. Natsuko's moans grew louder and she couldn't help but think back to the day their relationship took this new turn.

FLASHBACK

It had been a couple of months since they had left the mountain to get fighting experience by working their way through the Bingo Book. It was now Natsuko's sixteenth birthday and they were celebrating in an underground safe house in Vegetable Country. Naruto had declared that they were going to party and get drunk to celebrate and had developed a seal especially to prevent their advanced healing factors from eliminating the alcohol.

A few dozen bottles of sake latter, Kumo's finest, and they were piss drunk and seeing double.

"Hey Natsu-chan, pass me the bag of chips will ya?" Naruto slurred, finishing with a hiccup.

"Which one? There are about fifty!" She slurred back. Okay maybe there were seeing more than double.

She stumbled to her feet and grabbed a pack of the prawn flavored snacks, swaying dangerously all the way. A stray speck of dust floated across the floor and landed on her foot knocking her out of balance. With a drunken cry of surprise she landed on top of Naruto, her breasts pressing into his chest and her lips smooching against his.

The precarious situation sent their hearts beating overtime, pumping adrenalin through their veins and clearing their liquor addled minds.

Or rather clearing their liquor addled minds enough for them to start kissing each other passionately.

Natsuko moaned into the kiss when she felt his tong slide against hers as it traced the insides of her mouth. Tearing off his T-shirt to expose his muscular chest she ran her fingertips over his surprisingly flawless skin causing him to shiver in pleasure.

She yelped when he pushed her upright so she was straddling his waist, his hardness pressing at her crotch. Naruto lifted her top up but stopped half way so her face was covered from her nose upwards and her arms held above her head, exposing her firm C-cups and their light pink nipples. He trailed kisses along her jaw line and down the right of her neck, licking her collar bone tenderly before continuing to trail kisses between her firm breasts and down her stomach. When he reached her belly button he paused to dip his tong in it a few time, making her squirm in pleasure, before he moved his head back up and captured her left nipple in his mouth. He brought a hand up to caress the other fleshy mound, rolling his thumb over the nipple.

With his other hand he unbuttoned her pants and slipped his fingers into her white panties sensually stroking her nether lips. Natsuko screamed out in pleasure from the new sensation. She had never touched herself down there; having never received any kind of affection she hadn't even thought about a sexual relationship. He brother's ministrations were having unexpected results, though they definitely weren't unwelcomed.

Obeying her instincts she pushed Naruto back and undid his pants and boxers. She gasped when his tool sprung free. It was huge! Ten inches long and as thick as her wrist, the shaft was covered with numerous throbbing veins and crowned by a large bulbous head. Seeing a dollop of liquid emerge from the small slit she leaned forwards and placed her lips at the tip before sucking on it as if it were a straw. She moaned loudly as she tasted the delicious gooey, slightly salty substance. Trying to coax more out she wrapped a small hand around Naruto's member and started to pump up and down vigorously. She added a twisting motion and slipped the head into her mouth, moaning as her other hand rubbed her dripping pussy lips.

Naruto was lost to the pleasure his imouto was giving him. Her tiny hand jacking him off was amazing, but warmth of her mouth and the roughness of her tongue as it licked his head were mind-blowing. He stiffened and felt pressure build in his balls as his body begged for release.

"Natsu-chan," He groaned though gritted teeth as he held on with all his might, desperate to feel this pleasure for as long as possible. "I-I'm cu-cumming! Gaah!"

With an inarticulate cry his orgasm erupted into Natsuko's mouth, ropes of hot thick seamen splashing into her mouth making her moan in satisfaction as her throat worked as fast as it could to swallow it all. When the tide finally subsided she made a show of swallowing the last mouthful, staring into his eye with a lust filled expression.

Naruto's cock had softened slightly after his orgasm but Natsuko's erotic action brought him back to full hardness in an instant. He pushed her back, gently but firmly, so she was lying on the floor. He crawled between her legs and placed the tip of his member at her entrance. In a moment of clarity he looked into her eyes for any sign of hesitation but saw none. He pushed forwards and sank into her slowly, both their mouths open in a silent scream of pleasure. Naruto stopped when he hit her barrier, most kunoichi broke their hymen during the rigorous training their trade required but he supposed that Kyuubi's youki may have prevented that from happening.

"Gomen Natsu-chan but this is going to hurt for a while, until you get used to me being inside you." He said softly placing small, loving kisses along her neck.

Natsuko really didn't know much about sex. There were special classes for kunoichi at the academy, but she had been thrown out like most of her other classes. So far she was acting purely on instinct and given how good it felt she was more than happy to continue doing so. She looked down to where she was joined to her brother, his huge penis was barely over a third of the way in. She shuddered slightly at the sight of his large member parting her lips, stretching her pussy to accommodate its size. Suddenly her instincts screamed at her, demanding that all of HER man's meat be inside her. Without thinking she curled her legs around his back and obeyed the primal urge.

Naruto waited patiently for his sister to reply. The seals had come off at some point and they were both free of the alcohol's influence. He was well aware this was a taboo and was considered wrong but he didn't care, he knew with absolute certainty that there wasn't a more perfect person he could be with. He needed to be sure, however, that this was also what she wanted. His wait came to an end when Natsuko's slender but powerful legs wrapped around him and without warning pulled him all the way into her. Naruto felt his cock break through her barrier and plunge all the way into her. His eyes rolled to the back of his skull as he passed out, collapsing on top of an already unconscious Natsuko. The pain and pleasure having proved too much for the siblings turned lovers.

Natsuko awoke when she felt the warm weight on top of her shift. She wriggled a little and moaned loudly as she felt the still hard shaft move inside her. She felt the weight lessen and opened her eyes to see her brother looking down at her and breathing deeply, she followed his gaze as it slid downwards. When she saw Naruto's pelvis flush with her and his cock buried to the hilt in her pussy, her eyes glazed over as the memories returned almost like a kage bushin dispelling. She had curled her legs around Naruto's back and pulled him into her in one swift thrust, she could vaguely remember screaming from the sharp pain before passing out. She looked back into her nii-chan's eyes.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly. Naruto leaned down and softly captured her lips with his.

"You got a bit, enthusiastic, and we both passed out, I'm not sure how long. But damn you're tight!" He pulled an inch of his meat pole out and thrust it back in slowly. Natsuko moaned at the heat and fullness she felt. Naruto grinned at her reaction, "It looks like fainting helped you sleep the pain off."

He started stroking in and out of her tight passage, thankful for the warm juices that were spilling from her in a continuous stream as she trashed around in pleasure. Deciding to step things up a little Naruto wrapped his arms around her back and pulled up so he was sitting on his heels with her still impaled on his cock. Placing his hands on her hips he lifted her up, sliding halfway out, and then released her. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent scream as the fire in her belly roared, burning hotter than ever. Naruto took hold of her hips and repeated the process again, and again.

After a few minutes of this Natsuko started lifting up and sliding down on her own. Naruto groaned as her vaginal walls clamped down on him in a vise like grip. He fell onto his back, unfolding his legs so she was riding him cowgirl style. She sped up as she got closer to her climax, her body glistening with sweat, her boobs bouncing wildly until he reached up and took them in his hands, massaging them and pushing her over the edge. She crumpled, losing control of her muscles and landing on Naruto's chest, her limp body twitching as her orgasm coursed through her. It took almost five minutes for Natsuko to come down from her orgasmic high and regain control of her body. When she did she lifted her head up, keeping her breasts pressed to Naruto's chest, and looked him in the eyes before pressing her lips to his.

"That was amazing onii-chan." She murmured lovingly. She frowned as she realized something, "You didn't cum." She flipped them over so she was under him, his cock still held tightly in her pussy. She stared deep in his eyes and ordered, "Cum!"

More than happy to comply, Naruto pulled all the way out until only his head was inside her. With a smirk that promised untold pleasure he thrust into her, hard, pulled all the way out, and slammed back in again. He built up a steady rhythm, his long powerful thrust brining a still sensitive Natsuko to orgasm over and over as the sound of their naked flesh slapping together echoed throughout the safe house.

Naruto continued pounding into his imouto relentlessly for half an hour never feeling the need to change position. By then they were lying in an ever increasing puddle of Natsuko's sweet nectar. Naruto would later conclude that it was only thanks to her healing factor that she hadn't turned into a dried up husk after cumming so much.

Naruto felt his coils tighten as he neared his climax. Giving one last thrust he buried himself as deep as he could in his sister's warm velvety depths and grunted as he splashed her walls with rope after rope of pent up semen. Natsuko screamed out one last time as she felt her brother's hot, thick cum splash into the pit of her womb and slosh around messily as he injected more and more of the substance into her.

END FLASHBACK

Natsuko moaned contentedly as she and Naruto made their way to the suite's king sized bed. She had one last thought before they descended into hours of pleasure making.

'Three years can make a world of difference."

Chapter 02: Waves

Hey it's me! I've come to a decision and had an idea to help me write this story the way I want. What is the decision you ask? THIS FIC WILL NOT BE A HAREM FIC. I'm sorry to those who wanted it to be (believe me I like to see Naruto drowning in pussy too) but in this fic Naruto and Natsuko really, truly love each other (borderline obsessive at times). I find that making it a harem will take away from that. On the other hand I did want Naruto to get a taste of the other flavors (so to speak).

My intention, as I said previously, was to have a few threesomes or foursomes where Naru/Natsu would be joined by some other girls. One of my reviewers commented on how flings weren't cool (not a direct quote but if you recognize yourself here's to you!) and I agree. So I was asking myself how to work around that when the idea hit me. It's so simple that I could have slapped myself, but at the same time I can't remember seeing it used before in another fic (it probably has been but I haven't see it). What is this crazy simple idea you ask?

Well you'll just have to read the chapter.

"OK! The bridge was one thing but this is just too much!" Naruto Said, his voice full of laughter as he looked up at the ten foot stone statue of a 12 year old Natsuko.

They had just arrived in Wave Country and were headed towards Tazuna's house. Naruto had had a good laugh when he saw the 'Great Natsuko Bridge', something she had failed to mention when she told him about her life. He had openly admitted that he was proud of her and that the bridge just proved how great she was. As well as how stupid the people of Konoha were to have treated her like they did. He was glad that the people of wave recognized and acknowledged his imouto's accomplishment and very thankful that someone other than him had shown her true kindness. The giant statue however was just, as he said, too much.

"Shut up Naruto-kun! You just can't appreciate art." She chastised, trying to ignore how true his words rang. She was honored that they would build a monument for her. Three years ago having a ten foot statue of her striking a 'nice guy' pose in the middle of a town square would have ranked right up with being name Hokage or getting a year's supply of free ramen. But she had calmed down since then and, although she wouldn't admit it, it was a bit over the top.

"Oh! It's a work of art alright!" Naruto said as he clutched his stomach in laughter, "I'm just glad they didn't paint the thing. Can you imagine the ten foot orange nightmare?" His face looked like it was going to split he was grinning so wide, "That would literally light up the town."

With a nasty scowl on her pretty face Natsuko stormed off towards Tazuna's house, a laughing Naruto in tow. She thought of giving him the 'no sex' threat, but considering how that always ended she didn't think it a good idea. Tsunami probably wouldn't appreciate her house being flooded. She blushed as she remembered the state their hotel room back in Suna had been in when they had finished. While being able to cum for hours on end without getting dehydrated had its perks, it did tend to create a bit of a mess.

/

Back in Konoha a disgruntled team 7 was giving their report on their mission, or rather the lack of mission.

"So let me get this straight," Said a flustered Tunade, "you got to Suna and not only were you denied entrance, but someone had already saved the Kazekage." Sakura and Kakashi nodded and Sasuke gave his usual "hn!". The last Senju sighed as she poured herself a cup of Sake.

"So who saved him? I didn't think Suna has any shinobi capable of taking on Akatsuki." Sasuke growled at the thought of a mere Suna-nin having more power than him.

"I don't know Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said. Her eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean you don't know? Why didn't you ask?"

"I did ask, but they refused to answer. I asked to meet with the Kazekage but they said that he was still recovering from his ordeal and didn't have time for foreign ninja." The copy-nin replied. Tsunade sighed, she had really been counting on their saving Gaara to repair the Konoha/Suna relationship. Then she thought of another detail Jiraya's spy network picked up.

"What about Kankuro-san? Jiraya said he was poisoned by Sasori, surely they asked for Sakura's help?" The previous conversation made it obvious that they hadn't but she was getting desperate for some good news. This time it was Sakura who answered.

"Apparently whoever helped Gaara also took care of that." She said bitterly, angry at not getting a chance to impress her Sasuke-kun.

Tsunade felt her teammate's chakra at the outside office so she dismissed team 7 with a wave of her hand. When they were gone she turned to the window and waited for him to drop his cloaking jutsu.

"So," she said, hoping to get some good news, "do you know who this mysterious savior is?" Jiraya nodded once, waiting for her to down her cup of sake since he knew this wouldn't go over well.

"Yeah! It turns out Gaara was saved by Uzumaki Natsuko and an accomplice." Tsunade choked, spraying sake across her desk and ruining what little paperwork she had completed.

As he was sent flying across Konoha by Tsunade's chakra enhanced fist, Jiraya couldn't help but chuckle at the result of the blonde Kage's latest gamble.

'Legendary sucker indeed!'

/

"Atchoo!" Naruto looked at his partner with a raised eyebrow.

"Looks like someone's talking about you." He said.

"Yeah! It's probably someone in Konoha that found out about us."

Naruto nodded in agreement, Konoha was bound to find out sooner or later. Saving a kage from S-class criminals doesn't stay secret for long. The leaf would probably come after them now that they had resurfaced, either to convince Natsuko to come back or to remove her so she can't become a threat. Either way they weren't worried.

They had gone to Tazuna's house but there was nobody there. Guessing that they were at work or out shopping Natsuko had decided to visit Zabuza and Haku's graves.

As they reached the tree line, where the Kiri missing-nin and his accomplice were laid to rest, they noticed that the area had been well maintained and some flowers had been planted. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sight. It wasn't much of a grave, though it was more than most shinobi ever got. A line of small stones marked where the bodies had been buried. A Zanbato stabbed into the ground on the left and a lopsided cross, made from what looked like two pieces of cast away construction wood, on the right. No it really wasn't much of a grave but it held a certain peace and tranquility. It was like a watered down version of what he felt when he looked into Natsuko's eyes.

Wordlessly Naruto stepped behind his imouto and slipped his arms around her waist. Natsuko leaned into the hug and they stood there silently, in contemplation, with no regard for the passing time.

Eventually Natsuko spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Naruto-kun what are we going to do? I mean when can't just wonder around aimlessly forever." She asked softly. He answered her, knowing exactly what she meant.

"I've thought about it. When I was alone I didn't really have any plans. I just traveled and worked on developing new skills. During our time in the mountains I would often ask myself what we would do when your training was finished." He paused, whether it was for effect or in hesitation she wasn't sure. His next question however shocked her. "Do you still want to be a kage?"

Natsuko spun around, though his arms still held her tightly to him as she stared him in the eyes with a quizzical gaze.

"But you hate the villages. Well you don't hate them but you certainly don't like them! And I'm sure as hell not going back to Konoha!" Naruto smirked at her.

"I never said we would join a village." He said. Natsuko frowned in confusion, then her eyes widened in understanding.

"You want to build a village?" Her eyes widened even more as she realized what he truly meant, "You want to rebuild Uzugakure." It wasn't a question, they knew each other well enough that she knew that's what he meant.

Naruto watched the expressions play on her face as she mulled the idea over: surprise, skepticism, hope, eagerness. He could tell that she liked the idea, but..

"But what's to stop it from becoming like all the other villages?" She asked. Naruto smiled indulgently, as if she was asking a silly question but he was willing to answer anyway.

"We are." He answered simply. There was a short, awkward silence.

"That's a really cheesy answer." She replied.

"Yeah!" He rubbed the back of his head and a light blush colored his cheeks, "Well, think about it for now, we'll talk tomorrow and put a plan together."

They strolled back leisurely back to the house, enjoying the afternoon breeze as the heat of the day started to lift. They admired the view as they walked, it was about an hour to sunset and light was reflecting of the ocean water in a beautiful and hypnotic display. The moment was broken by the sound of breaking glass and an angry cry.

They were instantly on guard and moved towards the house. Natsuko slide the door open, staying out of the opening in case someone was waiting to attack her. Naruto stayed back and covered her, kunai drawn and ready for action. When they saw that nobody was in the entrance room they swiftly but silently made their way inside. They headed towards the kitchen to investigate the source of the disturbance.

/

Tazuna and Inari were not having a good day. The family had decided to go down to the shore for the day to have some fun. They had had a picnic lunch and everything had been going fine. After lunch Tazuna and Inari had rolled up their pant legs and wadded into the water to try and catch some fish. The keyword being, try. Tazuna was an engineer, NOT a fisherman, and Inari was just a kid apprenticing under an engineer. They could have sworn the fish were laughing at them.

The aquatic fun had come to an end when a scream from Tsunami tore through the usual afternoon buzz. They spun around and saw that she was surrounded by a rough dozen men, bandits by the looks of things. Without thinking Tazuna ran towards the shore to help his daughter, as bad luck would have it however his foot hit a rock, he tripped, fell and knocked himself out when his head hit the ground. Inari had to drag his grandfather to dry land to prevent him from drowning.

By the time Tazuna gained consciousness the bandits had left with their new captive. They searched for a good hour, desperate to save their female family member, but they had no luck and eventually Tazuna's concussion forced them to return home.

When they got back Inari started gathering anything that could, even remotely, serve as a weapon or shield. Three years ago he had promised his onee-chan that he would never give up and that was a promise that he intended to keep.

Tazuna went straight for a bottle of sake. After the 'Battle of the Bridge' as people called it, he had given in to his daughter's pleas and stopped drinking. Well he had stopped drowning himself in alcohol, he had cut down to a few cups after the evening meal. He took a large mouthful of the beverage but as soon as the taste hit his tong he spat it out. Drinking wouldn't help his situation at all, the Gato incident had proven that. In his frustration he threw the bottle at the kitchen window and let loose an inarticulate cry of anger.

Moments later a teenage girl stepped into the kitchen and scanned it once as if checking for threats. When she found none she relaxed and sighed in relief. Then another teen stepped in, a boy this time and slightly older by the looks of things. He too looked around quickly, and then relaxed with an expression of curiosity on his face.

/

Natsuko looked around the kitchen trying to locate any possible threat. She saw that Tazuna seemed to have been in a fight and had a nasty head wound. Inari had a pot on his head, a collection of kitchen knives stabbed though a tea towel tied to his waist, a rather large meat cleaver in his right hand and a rolling pin in his left. She sweat dropped.

"Um! What are you guys doing?" she asked, sounding as if she doubted she wanted to know what kind of weirdness they were up to.

There was a moments silence then Inari's eyes grew wide as dinner plates.

"Natsuko-nee-chan!" He screamed and launched himself at her.

Naruto could tell the issue was something more than a rebellious bottle of sake, so as his imouto tried to calm the boy down he walked up to Tazuna.

"Hello, you're Tazuna-san I presume?" he asked, getting a nod, "OK! I'm Natsu-chan's partner. Can you tell me what's going on here?"

Having dealt with ninja on more than one occasion Tazuna quickly and precisely explained the situation, from the picnic to Tsunami's kidnapping to their fruitless search. Glad for the concise but detailed report Naruto immediately went into action.

"Natsuko-chan you take care of Tazuna-san's wound, I'll go after Tsunami-san. The sun hasn't set yet so the bandits probably haven't set up camp for the night. Hopefully I can catch them before they're done."

Natsuko nodded her head once. Taking out a group of bandits, no matter how large, wouldn't require both their attention. In fact they could probably send a clone to do it. What naruto had avoided saying in front of Tazuna and Inari was what would happen if he got there after the bandits finished setting up their camp. Simply put Tsunami's, dignity, would probably be safe until then. They might rough her up a bit if she put up too much resistance, but not much more than that. If they finished setting up camp before Naruto found them, the likelihood of her being raped increased by the minute. And depending on how many men were in the group he may already be too late.

Looking around the kitchen once more Naruto spotted an apron and, grabbing hold of it, he turned to Tazuna.

"Is this your daughter's?" He asked.

"Yes!" The old man answered. Then apparently guessing why the young shinobi asked he added, "She wears it whenever she's cooking." Naruto nodded in thanks.

"The scent will be strong then. It'll make finding her easier."

Natsuko watched nervously as her lover quickly exited the house. She wasn't worried about him, unless the sky literally dropped on his head he would be fine. She was however worried about Tsunami. The simple thought of being with anyone but Naruto revolted her, but the idea of being raped sent shivers down her spine. She had seen quite a few rape victims this past year, in roughly sixty percent of the camps she and her brother destroyed they had found kidnapped and abused women. Men could be truly sickening, some of the girls had barely been ten years old.

Her dark thought were dispersed by a fairly loud pop and the sound of large feet running quietly in the direction of the shore Tazuna mentioned. Natsuko smiled a bittersweet smile, thankful for the happy memory the sound called forth.

FLASHBACK

Naruto and Natsuko were in the small kitchen area of the mountain safe house, eating a meal Natsuko had cooked. Outside groups of clones were dispelling from the days lessons. Suddenly Naruto looked up sharply.

"I can't believe I didn't ask this before, but do you have a summons contract?" She looked up and swallowed what was in her mouth.

"Yup! Jiraya let me sign the Toad Contract."

"Well I've got the Tiger Contract. It was kaa-chan's and she had me sign it when I was a kid. I think you should sign it too, but that would mean that you can't summon toads anymore."

Natsuko thought about it. She liked the toads but she had only summoned them a handful of times so she wouldn't really miss them. The real issue was that it was one of the very few gifts she had ever been given. But that was her old life, her Konoha life.

"OK! I'll sign it! Besides Minato-teme signed the Toad contract, and I'd rather have kaa-chan's!" She finished with a winning smile.

They quickly finished their meal, walked out of the house and stopped under the Sakura tree. Naruto ran through a series of hand seals and slammed his right hand on the ground. When the smoke cleared there was a large white tiger with black stripes and a thin scroll held between its jaws. The tiger dropped the scroll at Naruto's feet and it grew wider until it reached the size of the scroll she had signed for the Toad Contract. He unrolled the scroll and passed it to Natsuko. Reading it she saw quite a few names, all of them were Uzumakis. The last two were Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Kushina, having done this once already she knew what to do. Biting down on her thumb she signed her name and left a print of each of her ten fingers. When she was done Naruto closed the scroll and gave it back to the tiger that then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"The hand signs are the same as all other contracts so I don't have to teach them to you. The contract however is not like others." Natsuko got a puzzled look on her face.

"What do you mean? I thought all contracts were different." He nodded

"Yes all contracts are different because they summon different animals, obviously. But that's not what I'm talking about." He paused a moment in thought before continuing. "Tell me some of the contract animals you've seen."

"Well I've seen toads, slugs, snakes, dogs, monkeys and maybe some others." She replied.

"Good. Now don't you find it strange that a toad or a slug can fight on even grounds against a dog a snake or a monkey?" Natsuko blinked. She had never thought about it but it was kind of strange. A fifty foot high slug was still a slug, and no slug could win a fight against a dog. Seeing her confusion Naruto went on.

"I see you get my point. The thing is all summons contracts are about the same strength regardless of the animals they represent. There are however some contracts that are stronger and the tiger contract is one of them. There are only three contracts of the same strength: the Salamander contract, the Dragon contract and the Phoenix contract. When you're ready you can summon the boss and she'll test you. If you pass the test she'll allow you to summon the Tiger Clan to help you in combat, but until then you should only summon them when you're not in a fight."

Natsuko tried picturing staying on a massive tiger's back until sunset. She sweat dropped.

"Uhm. What's the test?" She asked.

"She'll look into your eyes and see what your life was like. If she deems you worthy you pass the test." Naruto answered with an arched eyebrow. He could tell there was a story behind that question, but he had the feeling it was ridiculous enough that he was best off not knowing.

END FLASHBACK

When she was ready she had summoned the tiger boss, Byakko, and passed the test. Naruto had advised her to summon different members of the clan and get to know them so she could find who would be her best fight partner. She had quickly grown fond of the tigers and had adopted them as her favorite animal, so it was only natural that she had even taken to using their shape for her elemental chalra manipulations.

With a sigh Natsuko told Tazuna to sit down so she could treat his wounds, silently praying that Tsunami wouldn't be coming back with any she couldn't heal.

/

A soon as he got out of the house Naruto went through a set of hand seals and thrust his palm into the ground. His chakra spread out in a black sealing array and with a pop and a puff of smoke a white and grey tiger the size of a horse appeared. Leaping up he straddled it's, or in this case her, back.

She was large by normal tiger standards, but she had finished growing so she was rather small compared to other summons tigers. She wasn't part of the clan's main family so she wouldn't gain their sheer size. That didn't mean that she was weak however. Naruto had first met her when he had been developing his blood storm jutsu. He had over trained and had to summon a tiger to help him get back to his camp, since his chakra reserves had been quite low he had ended up summoning a 'lesser' tiger, she had barely been big enough to carry him at the time. When he had recovered he summoned her again to thank her properly and they just hit off. She had been his personal summons ever since.

"Hey Kisa-chan! We've got a time sensitive mission here," He passed the apron over the large huntress's nose, "I need you to track down the woman whose scent is on this, she's been taken by bandits. I don't think I have to explain why we have to hurry."

The female growled at his words, she had always been degusted at what humans can do to each other. She for example had decided not to take a mate, and while it was a rare occurrence she knew that no member of her clan would even think of forcing her to. Spurred on by her anger she sped off, trusting her nose to guide her to prey. The human scum were dead, they just didn't know it.

Naruto rode with practiced ease as they sped down the shore, they reached what he guessed to be the spot where Tsunami was kidnapped but Kisa didn't stop. She noticed that multiple other scents now joined the woman's, they were heavy with sweat, musk and other even less pleasant odors so she knew she was on the right track. After a few minutes following the trail she ran into a lightly wooded area and came to a fairly wide river. The scents lead her up the river bank about half a mile until it suddenly stopped. The sun was dropping below the horizon now so time was of the essence. Assuming that the bandits must have crossed the river she pumped chakra into her feet and, using water walking, quickly crossed to the other side. She immediately picked the scents up again and followed them at a swift but somewhat reduced pace.

Naruto looked around when Kisa's pace slowed, he knew better than to question her judgment and instead looked for the explanation. The underbrush from this side of the river was well trampled, creating a clear path into the denser parts of the forest. There were small puddles here and there so he concluded that the bandits had used this path to get water from the river. Their camp wouldn't be far.

When they saw the lights from the three camp fires Naruto slid down from Kisa's back.

"Kisa I want you to get near to the camp but stay out of sight, I'll try and find Tsunami-san." He whispered, "Wait for my signal, then attack from the west."

The great predator disappeared silently into the shadows to take position and wait.

Naruto jumped up to the trees' lower branches and made his way toward the camp. He stopped when he reached the edge of the clearing and stretched his senses. He estimated the group to be about thirty men strong. They were quite well organized and, judging by the quality of some of their weapons they had had more than a few successful raids. There were sentries patrolling in groups of two and guards at two of the seven marquee type tents. Naruto held back a sigh of relief, the leader of this group was obviously a man who understood the dangers of the life he led and, while that would make the red headed nin's job harder, it also meant that none of his men would be having any 'fun' until all safety preparations were done.

Sending chakra to his ears Naruto closed his eyes and sifted through the cacophony. He first directed his attention towards the guarded tents, in the smaller one he could hear some gruff voices giving reports and making plans, nothing that he would find interesting. In the second tent, which was also easily the largest in camp, he could hear soft weeping and muffled prayers for help. He opened his eyes and, this time, allowed the small sigh of relief out. He was now fairly certain that the woman, or women, had been untouched.

Now he had to decide how to proceed. The sentries patrolled in view of their comrades, so killing them and infiltrating the camp was a bad idea. He could go for a frontal assault but the risk of Tsunami-san being harmed was unacceptable since she was one Natsuko-chan's precious people. Coming to a decision he jumped from his perch and fell straight into the ground, leaving only a coin sized hole where he should have landed.

Naruto traveled underground, bending the earth around him through Douton manipulation. When he had covered the distance that separated him from the prisoners' tent he resurfaced quickly, leaving a similar coin sized hole beneath him. Scanning the room he saw that it was an average marquee, large enough to host a good number of men. Four sturdy wooden posts held up the fabric, and tied to three of them was a blindfolded woman. All were crying and had a few bruises, but other than that he was pleased to see that they we're untouched.

Making a quick circle of the room Naruto placed a tag with a seal in each corner, when he finished they all connected creating an invisible silencing barrier. Of the three women only one had the dark blue hair that featured in Natsuko's description of Tsunami. Walking up to her he gently removed the dirty cloth that covered her eyes.

/

Tsunami was not having a good day. In fact this was probably the worst day of her life since Kaiza was executed by Gato during his reign of terror. When her father and son had gone to try their luck fishing she had put the picnic stuff away and, feeling a little tired, decided to take a nap. She had been forcefully awoken when strong hands had grabbed her arms and legs, lifting her roughly of the ground. She had screamed, kicked and thrashed around but to no avail, her captors were just too strong. When they had tied her up and left her blindfolded she had calmed down enough to form coherent thoughts.

She had first been worried for her father, since she could vaguely remember seeing him slip as he tried to come to her aid. At first she was grateful for that, she had no doubt that the men would have killed him if he had interfered. That was quickly replaced by worry and despair however. She knew what she had been taken for, and she knew there was nothing she could do about it. For what seemed like hours she struggled against her bonds but they were tight and didn't loosen at all. Hopelessness sunk in and she started crying.

Tsunami flinched when she felt a pair of hands touch her face as they removed her blindfold. She blinked a few times in an effort to clear her eyes, but tears still clouded her vision. She was surprised when the person spoke in a soothing male voice.

"Calm down Tsunami-san I'm not here to harm you. My name is Uzumaki Naruto I'm Natsuko's partner. She's at your house at the moment healing a wound your father sustained when he fell." Seeing her breathing calm and her posture relax Naruto continued, "Now I'm going to cut you lose okay?"

Tsunami nodded quickly. His words and voice had started to allay her fear but she desperately wanted to be free of her bindings.

Naruto focused Futon chakra in his palm and passed it over the rope, slicing right through it. As soon as she was freed Tsunami leapt up and threw her arms around his neck as tears of relief cascaded down her cheeks. Wanting to move on Naruto created two Kage Bushin and sent them to release the other two captives. With each woman being carried by a Naruto they stepped out of the tent.

The real Naruto let lose a load low whistle, giving Kisa the signal to attack. The clones, on either side of him, blew out a sharp breath as if to blow out a candle. A bullet of highly compressed air shot from their lips and struck both guards between the eyes, punching into their skulls and out the other side. Seconds later, and before the bandits could get a handle on the situation, a pack of tigers attacked from the west of the clearing. Apparently Kisa had called on some of her clan-sisters. Naruto chuckled softly, different species or not these bandits had called upon them the full wrath of righteous female fury.

Ignoring the screams of pain and roars of satisfaction Naruto left the clearing, sparing only enough time to create a squad (four) of clones with sealing equipment. There was no point in letting the stolen goods go to waste was there?

/

It hadn't taken long for Natsuko to heal Tazuna's head wound as it hadn't been too serious. Since then they had been waiting in the sitting room and catching up on what happened since they last saw each other.

For Natsuko that meant telling them about her meeting Naruto and her years of training, though she didn't actually tell them that he was her brother. In fact nowadays the only time she would call him 'onii-chan' was during sex. When Naruto had asked her about it she had quite casually stated that it turned her on. She finished by giving them an overview of the last year or so, and their quick trip to Suna.

Tazuna told her of the fallout of her banishment and how Konoha was barely surviving because of it. That pleased the blonde, not only because the village got some well-deserved payback, but because it showed her just how many people actually cared for her. She silently promised that she would make time to visit them all and thank them for their support. Maybe they would become allies when Uzugakure was rebuilt.

Just then the front door slid open and Naruto walked in with a sleeping Tsunami cradled in his arms. Seeing the older woman's arms around his neck and her head nestled against his chest made a burst of jealousy flash through Natsuko's eyes. She knew it was irrational but Naruto was HER'S and she didn't want anyone, even one of her precious people, being even slightly intimate with him.

Seeing his imouto's reaction Naruto hastily, but carefully, passed his sleeping charge to her father.

"She's just tired Tazuna-san." He reassured, "She had a stressful day and we had to accompany two other women to their homes before we came back. Thankfully none of them were touched." He finished looking the bridge builder dead in the eye to make sure he understood.

Tazuna sighed heavily, relieved that his daughter's ordeal hadn't been as bad as he feared it would have. After thanking the Uzumaki's he made his way up the stairs, Inari following, and put his daughter to bed. Inari curled up next to his mother and Tazuna sat in an armchair, they would be with her when she woke up.

Naruto silently followed his partner to the bedroom their hosts had offered them. When he entered he saw tags stuck to the corners of the room, confirming that Natsuko had already put a silencing barrier in place. Locking the door he threw his trench coat off, walked up to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Hey, you know you're the only girl for me." He cooed softly in her ear. Natsuko sighed, and then let out a nervous giggle.

"I know! I know! I guess it's just that I've gotten used to having you all to myself." She muttered. Naruto cupped her chin, tilted her head up and kissed her lips softly. He pulled back but stayed close enough that the tips of their noses were touching.

"You'll always have me all to yourself." He whispered reassuringly.

LEMON WARNING: (Tsunami, Natsuko) Incest, Anal.

Suddenly Natsuko pulled out of Naruto's embrace and took a step back with a foxy grin on her face. It was the grin Naruto had come to expect when she was about to do something totally unpredictable.

"You know," She said as she unbuckled her belt and dropped her pants, "Just because I have you all to myself," She took off her mini-T-shirt and sports bra at the same time, leaving her nude but for her white panties, "Doesn't mean I can't BE someone else!" She finished by slipping out of her last garment and revealing her fully naked body.

Natsuko smirked as her onii-chan's eyes roamed her figure, gliding downwards, taking in her every curve. When his gaze was leveled on her calves she concentrated on the image she wanted to produce and molded her chakra, disappearing inside a puff of smoke.

Naruto felt himself growing hard as he admired her form, he had seen her hundreds of times but he always found her just as beautiful. His eyes slowly moved down, taking in her perky breasts. His tongue darted out and licked his lips as he saw her nipples were already hardened in excitement. His gaze wandered over the slimming of her waist and the dip of her toned belly, the curve of her hips and the perfect space that separated her thighs and came from her acrobatic fighting style. As he was admiring her shapely calves he was surprised by the spike in her chakra and the puff of smoke that stole her from his view.

When the smoke cleared he looked at her with a confused expression, only to find that he wasn't looking at…her. A little taller than Natsuko was, creamy white skin instead of lightly tanned, dark blue shoulder blade length hair instead of mid back length blonde, flawless cheeks instead of delicate whisker marks, D-cup breasts instead of C-cups, a slim but not toned waist, less defined hips. He was looking at a very naked Tsunami. She couldn't compare to Natsuko but she was still very beautiful. Naruto found his gaze locked on the small patched of hair above her private regions, it was a first for him since Natsuko had never had hair there.

Now that was a funny thought! There was no doubt that this was, in fact, Natsuko using her first original jutsu: the infamous Sexy no Jutsu. He could still sense her massive chakra reserves and signature, but physically she was Tsunami, even down to her scent. He looked up as she took a step back up to him.

"Please, allow me to show my thanks for saving me Naruto-san." Natsuko said shyly.

"Natsuko-chan…what are you doing?" he asked hesitantly. Natsuko frowned a little.

"Natsuko-chan has left for a while so that I may express my thanks to you Naruto-san. Please call me Tsunami!" She said and stared into his eyes as she spoke, making sure she got her point across. Naruto sighed in mock exasperation; this was one of Natsuko's games. She loved to try new things, but he didn't complain since they always turned out to be very pleasurable. Well…there was that time she wanted to try 'cum' flavored ramen, and considering how much ramen she could eat…Naruto shook his head a got back to the matter at hand.

"Of course Tsunami-san, since Natsuko-chan agrees I shall gladly accept your thanks." Naruto answered warmly.

Tsunami pulled his T-shirt off and threw it onto the pile of clothe Natsuko made before she 'left'. She then dropped to her knees, unbuckled his belt and pulled his pants and boxers down to his ankles. Naruto stepped out of them and they joined the pile. With both of them now naked Tsunami took Naruto's organ in her hand and pumped it until it was at full hardness.

"Kami! Naruto-san you're so big!" She exclaimed.

Naruto groaned as she leant forward and licked his member from base to tip. Her tongue was warm and soft. It was different from Natsuko's hot and slightly rough texture. He decided to stop comparing everything to his imouto and to just enjoy it. Natsuko's body would always be his favorite.

Tsunami took Naruto's mushroom head in between her lips and swirled her tongue around it, the saliva only adding to the slick smooth feeling. Naruto placed his right hand on the back of her head. Taking the hint Tsunami slid her mouth down his meat pole stopping, just short of half way, when it hit the back of her throat. Her tongue moved around caressing everywhere it could reach and making Naruto close his eyes pleasure. She pulled back revealing a now glistening shaft, a thin strand of saliva hanging between her mouth and his cock. Tsunami then took a deep breath and sucked it back in, when it hit the back of her throat she repressed her gag reflex and pushed forward until her nose was nuzzling his patch of pubic hair. Naruto threw his head back and growled in pleasure as she bobbed her head back and forth, only pulling his cock out of her throat when she needed to breathe then ramming it back in. After five minutes of this treatment Naruto felt the pressure in his loins build up and gritted his teeth as he tried to delay his release.

"T-Tsunami-san! I'm almost t-there!" He grunted. This caused Tsunami to plunge his entire length down her throat and moan loudly around his member.

Naruto howled as the stimulation pushed him over and he unleashed copious amounts of cum into the woman's throat. When his climax started to subside she pulled back until only her lips were wrapped around his head, allowing the last few spurts to fill her mouth. Tsunami's cheeks sucked in as she cleaned every last drop from his channel then released him with a pop. She tilted her head back and their eyes met. She opened her mouth, churning the thick white liquid around with her tongue then swallowed it all in one deep audible gulp.

Naruto bent down and placed his hands on Tsunami's waist and lifted her with ease. When her bosom was level with his face she wrapped her legs around his back, locking her ankles together, and her arms around his head. Taking advantage of the position Naruto started lavishing her breasts with attention, alternately suckling and nibbling her left and right nipples. Tsunami moaned under his ministrations, yelping when his bites became more passionate. His left hand groped the soft flesh of her right ass cheek and the other snaked between her spread thighs and rubbed up and down her dripping slit. As Tsunami neared her climax she started to squirm causing her hold to loosen and her body to slip downwards.

Naruto firmly placed both hands just above her hips as his painfully erect member came into contact with the wet entrance to her folds. Knowing that she was almost over the edge Naruto grinned devilishly and tightened his grip on her waist before slamming her down. Tsunami eyes widened and she threw her head back, screaming in both pain and pleasure as she was impaled on his thick shaft. Her pussy walls struggled to accommodate his girth as they were invaded for the first time in years. Without giving her time to recover Naruto lifted her up releasing nine of his cock's ten inches, and then thrust her back down eliciting another scream. He continued lifting her up and down relentlessly plunging into her and her cries slowly lost all traces of pain, leaving only deafening howls of pleasure.

After thirty minutes of this treatment Naruto couldn't help but marvel at the jutsu his imouto had created. She hadn't just changed her appearance. Her entire body had changed to emulate Tsunami's. Or at least he assumed so since he didn't actually have any firsthand experience of the original. If he had been doing this to Natsuko's body he would have been covered in her sweet nectar by now. He knew it wasn't normal but his imouto could literally produce gallons of cum, something that he was thankful for since it was the main reason they could lose themselves in hour after hour of vigorous coupling without worrying about rubbing themselves raw. There was also the fact that Tsunami had considerably loosened since he first penetrated her, her folds now molding comfortably around his powerful strokes. Natsuko was always deliciously and incredibly tight.

Naruto chuckled as Tsunami slumped into his chest, no longer having the energy to hold herself upright. Her ankles unhooked themselves from behind his back, leaving her legs to fall and dangle limply as she continued to rise and fall. He chuckled again seeing just how exhausted she was. After all she had a civilian body, and no civilian could keep up with a shinobi's stamina. His lapse in concentration caused his control to slip and he felt his balls tighten for the impending release. Never pulling out he flipped her over so he was taking her from behind, allowing him to go even deeper. Her legs still hung a couple of inches above the floor, her arms trailed across the carpet and her slumped body swayed as his strong arms now pumped her back and forth.

Felling his release getting closer by the second Naruto increased his pace even more, grunting erratically as he pounded the drooling female. With a mighty roar and a strong thrust he slammed the single mother onto him one last time and held her there as he unleashed torrents of semen directly into her womb, his eyes clenched shut as he poured the steaming hot fluid in powerful blasts that pooled and sloshed around inside her.

Naruto slumped down and lay on his back with Tsunami resting on top of him as he gave her a moment to recuperate. When she started to stir her slipped out from under her and allowed his still erect penis to pop out. Propping himself up on an elbow he leaned over and kissed her softly making her eyes flutter open. She looked into Naruto's eyes and saw him smile at her with affection.

"Change back!" He said, and stroked her cheek.

Tsunami grinned tiredly and with a pop and a small cloud of smoke turned back into Natsuko. Naruto leaned down again and licked along her whisker marks, causing her to shiver as the sensitive area was stimulated. Having spent so long in a civilian's body with little stamina she was still very tired and put up no resistance as she was flipped onto her stomach.

Naruto gripped his imouto's hips and lifted them up putting her in the doggy style position, with her face and chest still lying on the floor. He pushed his cock between her legs and rubbed it against her slit, coating it with her juices so that it was well lubricated. When he was satisfied he spread her ass cheeks with his thumbs, exposing her rose bud, and slowly sunk his entire length into her tight rectum. They both moaned out in extreme pleasure, Naruto because of the boiling smooth tightness that now held his member and Natsuko because of the hard pulsing warmth that filled her and seemed to spread through her entire being.

Naruto closed his eyes in bliss, paying no heed to how long he just stayed in that position, savoring the feeling being buried balls deep in his imouto's ass gave him. He came back to reality when Natsuko pushed her bust off the floor. Her regeneration ability had restored some of her energy, not much, but enough to get her body moving. Now on all fours she pulled forward an inch and then thrust herself back, her tired arms wobbling precariously in the process. She turned her head to look over her shoulder and their gazes met.

"Please onii-chan! Fuck my ass! Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me…" She whimpered, trailing off in a repetitive chant.

Not wanting to disappoint his lover Naruto pulled all the way out, grinning as her hole immediately sealed itself up, and then gently but firmly thrust all the way back in. He continued like that, setting an agonizingly slow pace, making sure to brush against all the right spots. On each outstroke Natsuko's anus made lewd sucking noises as she desperately tried to keep Naruto's thick cock inside, only to fail with a 'pop' as each time his mushroom head pulled free of her tight sphincter.

Natsuko's moans grew louder as the slow pumping brought her closer and closer to orgasm, creating a burning heat inside her but not enough to give her the last push she so desired. Normally she would thrust back at him, impaling herself and forcing a more energetic rhythm. But she barely had the strength to stay on her hands and knees let alone move them.

"Onegai, oni…ah! Onii-sama! Harder! Faster!" She begged. The amount of desire and lust in her voice made Naruto's cock, if possible, grow even harder than it already was. He pulled out again and stayed there, poised at her entrance.

Leaning forwards he pushed back in so that he was molded against her back with his head over her left shoulder.

"Get ready Natsu-chan!" He whispered in a husky voice with his mouth right next to her ear, "I'm going to pound into you and I'm not going to stop until I've emptied myself in your tight little ass."

Natsuko could only whimper in response as he snaked his left hand around her and placed a small seal tag that covered her dripping crotch, his arm then moved up to circle her slim waist. His right arm went around her chest and groped the opposite breast. Leaning back so they were both upright Naruto made good on his promise and started pounding into her ass at full speed. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoed throughout the room as he barely removed half of his member before slamming back in. Natsuko's pent up orgasm finally exploded with a scream of ecstasy that went on and on and seemed to grow with each thrust. Naruto's grin threatened to split his face as he saw the seal activate and light up with a soft blue glow, its success confirmed.

For a good half hour Naruto pounded into his imouto's ass, never slowing down, even when her voice broke from her continuous scream or when she went limp in his arms, the only sign of consciousness being the small grin on her lips and the whimpers of pleasure that escaped them. Her orgasm never subsided as his relentless thrusts forbade her from coming down. Eventually Naruto felt his loins burn and he could no longer hold back his release.

Pressing down on her belly with his left hand he held her close and, with one last thrust, buried himself in her before splashing her bowels with one of the biggest loads he ever produced.

Utterly spent they slumped to the side. Naruto reached behind him and grabbed a blanket, completely ignoring the futon that had been set out, and wrapped them both in it.

With Naruto's arms spooning her to him, and Natsuko's anus still holding his slowly deflating cock in a vise like grip, they drifted into a contented sleep.

END LEMON

Breakfast the next morning was a curious affair, for Naruto at least. Either their host was hiding their trauma from the previous day's events like a veteran spy, not likely. Or she had somehow bounced back and completely put the whole thing behind her.

'Not likely either but apparently true.' He said to himself as he watched Tsunami happily place bowls of rice in front of him. He voiced his thanks as she went back to the kitchen, and shrugged in his mind, 'They must have learnt to deal with the shit life throws at them during Gato's reign.'

"So how long are you staying?" Tazuna asked. He had bags under his eyes from watching her all night, Inari was still asleep.

Since his sister was eating with gusto Naruto answered.

"I don't know. We only came because Natsu-chan wanted to see you guys so it's up to her really. But we won't stay too long. Now that we've taken out two Akatsuki members people will be after us, either to kill us or to 'persuade' us to join them." He paused to take a sip of tea, "We also have a project to get started on soon."

Natsuko nodded, they wouldn't be staying long, in truth she didn't really have anything else to do here. She was no longer an attention starved young girl she had been. Back when she lived in Konoha she would have wanted to stay with these kind people for as long as possible, but now seeing them and catching up was enough. She smiled as she munched on a piece of fish, it was proof that she had not only grown stronger as a kunoichi, but she had grown stronger as a person.

"What project is that?" Tsunami asked curiously as she reentered the room and sat down, "Is there any way we can help?"

Naruto turned to his sister and raised an eyebrow. She finished her mouthful and patted her lips with a napkin before speaking.

"Well we only mentioned it yesterday, so I haven't really thought about it much, but we're going to try and rebuild Uzugakure. Besides I'm not sure where to start, I mean I've never even been to Whirlpool Country so it's kind of hard to plan anything." She started tapping her chin with her right index finger, "Yeah that's it we should go there first and get an idea of what we're working with before we start making plans."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah! That's a good idea. I've only been once actually, and that was just a passing visit to pay my respects to the land of our ancestors. If you see what I mean." He turned back to his host, "I think we'll leave after breakfast. We'll go to Uzu and see what the place is like. We'll make our plans from there."

When the meal was finished they said their goodbyes, asking Tsunami to pass them on to Inari when he woke up, and made their way to the docks.

"So how long do you think it'll take us to get there Naruto-kun?" Natsuko asked.

"I think we'll just walk all the way so it'll probably take us a week or so. Since Uzu was destroyed there are no ships that go directly." He explained as they reached the sea, "Last time I took a boat that was going from Lightning Country to Water Country, jumped overboard halfway through and water walked the rest of the way. There are smaller islands on the way so we'll be able to rest."

"OK!" Natsuko stretched her arms above her head and arched her back, grinning as she saw her partner's eyes rake her figure.

They started there long journey to their okaa-san's birth-land.

Chapter 03: Building Uzu.

Natsuko rocked back and fell on her bum. She looked to her left and heaved a tired sigh. It had been over a week since they had reached the ruined island that once housed the proud and powerful village of Uzugakure. She had been rather disappointed actually. She had known that all that was left of her okaa-san's village was ruins but…well, that was it really. For some reason, while she had expected ruins, she hadn't expected JUST ruins.

Upon their arrival Uzu could be consider a large pile of rubble with wild vegetation pushing through and a fair amount of skeletons scattered around. She had freaked out when Naruto picked up a bleach white skull and asked her, oh so casually, if she thought it might be one of their uncles or cousins.

She had paid him back by having her clones collect all the skulls she could find, setting them all in concentric circles around a central 'ring', ripping her clothes of, getting on all four and giving him a view of her already dripping nether regions that she knew would rob him of all manner of self-restraint. He had gone through what she had come to recognize as the 'Three Steps' he went through every time she came up with something new to try. Step one he gives her the slightly freaked out 'Why the Fuck would you want to do that' expression. Step two he goes through with it because there's nothing he wouldn't do for his Natsu-chan. Step three he ends up liking it and pounding her into a sexual coma. It was only when they woke up the next morning surrounded by skulls, all of which were looking right at them, that they realized just how disturbing what they had done was.

She sighed again. She had become more perverted than one of Ero-teme's books.

The day after they 'christened' the island had been decidedly less enjoyable. In fact she hadn't seen much of her partner since then, only at mealtimes and the moments before or after they slept. They had been working non-stop since then and she could honestly say that, so far, building Uzu had been as boring as one of Iruka's history lectures.

FLASHBACK

"So where do we start Naruto-kun?"

He looked at her contemplatively, weighing his words before he spoke.

"Well, no offense, but I'm better at the whole 'architectural' business. So I think I'll take care of the more complicated parts and it'll be easier for me to just show you when I'm done." Natsuko nodded in agreement, he was better at that sort of thing. "Nonetheless I've thought about how we should organize the village and, most importantly how to prevent this," He made a sweeping motion with his arm, indicating the destroyed remains that surrounded them, "From happening again."

Natsuko spoke up, deciding to voice one of her concerns. "Are you sure there's enough space?" She asked dubiously. "I mean, from what you had said I had guessed that it was a relatively small island but…" She looked around theatrically, "I didn't expect it to be THIS small! I doubt you could fit half of Konoha in here. I know it's just the two of us for now but eventually there'll be more people and, well…they'll need space to live."

A small frown creased Naruto's brow. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I wondered about that myself when I first came. From the stories okaa-san told me the island was a lot bigger and the village itself was actually bigger than Konoha. My best guess is that the battles were violent enough that a lot of the island was destroyed and lost to the sea." They both scowled slightly at the loss of so much of their mother's heritage before Naruto shook himself out of his daze. "Anyway, for what I have planned, the smaller size is actually going to play to our advantage. We'll use the island for trade and diplomatic meetings. I think we should also build a stadium for when, and if, we host chuunin exams."

Her eyes widened as she caught on to what he intended to do. "You want to build the entire village underground?" She exclaimed incredulously. "Is that even possible? I mean the safe houses are one thing, but an entire village? Besides even if it is possible there's only so much space under this island and, unless we want to be totally dependent on trade alliances, we'll also need space for farming and livestock! Then there's training areas to account for!..."

Naruto raised his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "Hey! Hey! Calm down! I've thought about that, which is exactly why I'll be taking care of it." He said. "What I want you to do is build a huge stone wall all around the island. I'd say around sixty feet high and thirty feet thick. You can use the rubble to for raw materials and make it as dense and strong as possible. There's really no hurry, my part won't be over quickly, so take your time. Hmm…" he scratched his chin in thought. "So far I've focused mostly on the underground parts so if you want I can leave the surface up to you."

She thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I can do that. I guess it'll just be a smaller model of a normal shinobi village. We'll need a small hospital; a fancy building for all the political crap; the stadium, like you said; and also a place like the 'Forest of Death' for the second part of the exam. But if the island is mainly going to be used for trade then most of the buildings will be hotels, shops and warehouses."

"That sounds about right!" Naruto replied. He reached into his trench coat and, with a small flare of chakra, pulled out a small brown scroll. "Here! In this there are other scrolls with more raw materials sealed inside. The details are all written down on the labels. When you've used up all the junk around here you can use that." He chuckled. "There should be more than enough rock considering there's half a mountain in there." He got to his feet and dusted himself of. "When you start on the building remember to use clones and civilian methods, rather than elemental manipulation, since civilians will need to be able to do repairs."

END FLASHBACK

Natsuko got back on her feet and moved to the left to get started on a new part of the wall. At first she had thought that it would be an easy job, but she quickly came to realize just how wrong that assumption was.

Doton manipulation was one of her best elements so building a sixty foot high, thirty foot thick wall in ten foot wide sections wasn't all that hard for her. The difficult, and time consuming, part was compressing the loose earth and rock into one dense block of stone. It was many times denser than anything she would even consider using in combat for the simple reason that, even with her skill it required far too much mental concentration.

As such, nine days later, she was barely half way done. What made things worse was that she had already done a good fifteen sections when the training from their last months in the mountain safe house gave her an idea.

FLASHBACK

She had just finished reading the scrolls on doton jutsu after mastering doton manipulation. They were now sitting in their favorite spot under the sakura tree and Naruto was explaining the next step in her training.

"OK! First I have a question for you. You remember the first time we met and I killed those Root ANBU?"

She gave a single nod. "Yeah, you made a cloud with their blood and made it rain all over the clearing." She answered with a smirk. "That was awesome."

"Thanks, but how do you think I did it?"

She blinked, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Seeing her confusion Naruto grinned.

"Well at least you didn't just assume it was a kinjutsu or a Kekkai Genki, which is what most shinobi do. Now, so far you've used neutral, or normal, chakra and elemental chakra. Although you've only trained the elements you have an affinity for. But do you know what other types of chakra there are?"

Natsuko only had to think for a moment before she got the answer. "You mean sub-elements?"

Naruto pushed himself up onto his feet and started pacing back and forth.

"You see that's the problem. The academy teaches us that for chakra there are five elements: Fire; Water; Earth; Lighting; and Wind. Then that there are sub-elements made from a combination of two elements: Ice from Water and Wind; Wood from Water and Earth; Boil from Water and Fire; etc. What's worse is that students are taught that only kekkai genki users have access to these sub-elements."

"Well…they're right aren't they?" She asked with a confused look, to which Naruto vigorously shook his head.

"Not at all," He tapped two fingers to his heart, where she knew their okaa-san was sealed. "You've already seen my 'eternal ice' and the only kekkai genki I have is the large chakra reserves of the Uzumaki Clan." He stopped in front of her. "What I've found is that there is a chakra type for just about everything, well…every natural thing. I doubt there's ice-cream chakra or ramen chakra." Pushing that thought aside he continued his explanation. "Rather than calling it 'sub-elemental chakra' I call it 'complex chakra'. What you have to do is mix the right chakra elements in the right way and in the right amounts. Kekkai Genki are just shortcuts that make the process instinctual, or subconscious. I doubt that bloodline limit users have any idea of what their really doing. The reason other shinobi can't do it is because they don't have the elemental control needed to do so. That's also the reason the Sharingan can copy complex chakra type jutsu but not use them. Are you following so far?"

Natsuko nodded with a slightly dazed expression on her face, not because she was having difficulty understanding, but because of the possibilities that her brother's theory opened up.

"Good," He said. "At the moment you've only mastered tree elements so your possibilities are somewhat limited. From now on I'll let you decide when you train your remaining elements and when you try and find complex chakra combinations. You'll have to keep in mind that mastering Raiton and Suiton will take a lot longer even with Kage Bushin. The same goes for complex chakra, the mix will be a lot easier if it uses the elements you have an affinity for."

She frowned a little. "But if I use a couple thousand clones a day it couldn't take that long to master them could it? I mean from what you said before I got to this level faster than most get to the level needed for hand sealed ninjutsu. It can't take that much longer."

Naruto shook his head in negative. "You're underestimating how much easier it is when you have an affinity. There's a reason so many shinobi never reach jounin status and it's often because they don't have the second required affinity. Of course there are some jounin who don't have two elements but they're usually specialists or are given advancement for political reasons. At the moment in all the Elemental Nations the only non-bloodline user that I know can use ninjutsu from all five elements is Jiraya. An accomplishment that took most of his career to achieve and even then, from what I've heard he can't use anything above C maybe B rank jutsu in some elements. And that's with hand seals." His face scrunched up. "Actually there's also this guy called Kakuzu who is rumored to have mastered all five elements but I don't know much about him, only what's in the black market bingo book, which isn't a lot since most of the people who've fought him didn't live to tell about it."

He paused and sat back down. "If I used hand seals I would be considered a master in all the main elements, but without I only have mastery of Suiton, Futon and Raiton. I'm pretty advanced in Katon and Doton, enough that I can use them in battle or for complex chakra, but I've still got a ways to go for mastery, and I've been Kage bushin training for years."

Natsuko's shoulders slumped in disappointment but she quickly squared them. She wouldn't let something like that get to her, if she had to train long and hard then that's exactly what she'd do. "So what should I do from now on?" She asked.

"Well, as I said the two other main elements will take a while so you should do what I do and have a bunch of clones work on them whenever you can. For complex chakra, well at first it's more a question of understanding than training. You have to understand how something works and then try to recreate it. That's why I had you learn about physics, chemistry and other such things." He tipped his head back in thought, starring into the cavern's fake sky. "For example, tell me, what is ice?"

The female Uzumaki blinked at the question. "Uhm, frozen water I guess." She answered blandly. Sure she could give a more detailed response if she HAD to, but unlike her partner she had no love for the theoretical side of things. Naruto sighed at her lack of enthusiasm.

"Basically, when frozen, water is a lot less 'mobile' than when it's at a normal temperature, which is why it becomes solid. To mold Hyouton(ice) chakra you have to use Futon chakra to 'steal' or 'remove' the heat from the Suiton chakra. If you don't use enough you'll just end up with cold water, and if you use too much you'll create ice but the excess wind will break it."

"That doesn't sound too hard." She said with a slight creasing of her brow.

Naruto just shrugged. "It isn't, the thing is most ninja don't have the control to pull it off. Also, very few study civilian sciences so they don't understand how things work. But don't get too comfy, ice is one of the easiest. When you try to do something with three elements it gets a whole lot harder. I've got notes on the complex chakra types I've found but you should try and find some yourself by starting with your affinities. Besides I think half the fun is in discovering them, and while I have found quite a few there are still loads more so you'd best get some practice."

Natsuko gave another nod to show she agreed; then she tilted her head to one side, her long pony tail swaying with the movement. "Hey! What about your Blood?"

"Yeah, it's my signature jutsu and its what gives me the nickname 'Bloody Storm', I made that up myself by the way." He smiled sheepishly. "I figured that if I'm going to have a nickname it might as well be a cool one. Anyway, Blood type chakra is a mix of: Water, because of the organic aspect; Fire, because of the energy aspect; and Earth, because of the mineral aspect. You can also say that Water makes it liquid; Fire gives it warmth; and Earth brings stability. The more detailed parts are kind of hard to explain but I do have it all written down if you want."

Looking at his imouto he realized that she was only half listening, already trying to come up with her own complex chakra types. Smiling at his student's faraway look Naruto gave one last piece of advice.

"Keep in mind that you can use the same elements, but if you use different amounts or mix them differently you can get completely different results."

END FLASHBACK

Natsuko had found a few complex chakra combinations connected to her affinities. She had also started training in Water and Lightning manipulation, but as expected progress was slow.

The first had been inspired by her memories of Gaara and his tenant, by combining Wind and Earth she had successfully reproduced Sand chakra and practiced its manipulation. Like ice the concept was fairly simple. The Douton broke down the earth and stone and Futon controlled the movement. The result could create barriers of great density or desert like storms that flayed flesh from bone. Of course having a mastery over Wind and Earth didn't give her a mastery over Sand, so she wasn't anywhere near the Kazekage's level. But she could do some decent stuff and was only getting better.

She had mixed Fire and Wind to create Heat chakra. At first the combination had only produced stronger flames that often escaped control and blew up in her face, but with constant effort she had pulled through. The trick was to mold them together in such a way that the Katon 'burnt the wind', rather than having the Futon 'fan the fire'. It could best be described as a hot air, but where a gust of wind would blow the enemy away. A gust of heat would, if properly used, would roast them like an oven.

By adding the right amount of Water to Heat, something she was lucky to achieve with her current level of Suiton manipulation, the blond Uzumaki had discovered Humidity. While attacks from this type of chakra weren't as hot or destructive, they could make things rust or rot at incredible speeds. Something Sasori had found out the hard way.

Her favorite however, was Lava. It was a mix of Fire and Earth that offered a good combination of attack and defense. The only downside was that it was rather slow. However she hadn't let that discourage her and had taken to using Heat to compensate. The combination is what led to her chosen alias of 'Burning Wave'.

Back to the matter at hand, it was after she had completed fifteen sections of the Uzu wall that she had come up with an idea.

When the lava from her techniques cooled down it left a mass of rock. What she picked up on was that lava, with its liquid state, was easier to shape than stone. So she went back to the first section of the wall and melted the whole thing. She used her Lava manipulation to hold it in shape, and then she compressed it beyond what she had been able to do with Earth manipulation. She had used more raw stone to make up for the loss of volume and thus ended up with an even denser wall. The major downer was that she had to hold the manipulation until the lava cooled. But she had clones for that and the use of Wind manipulation to create a low level breeze accelerated the process.

So here she was so many days later, half way round the island, and thoroughly cursing the idea of being Shodaime Uzukage. Patience, after all, only gets you so far.

/

Naruto was having fun. He had always liked planning, researching and inventing things, and seeing his projects through was the icing on the cake. What he hadn't told Natsuko was that he had intended to rebuild Uzu even before he met her. He hadn't planned on making it a shinobi village, more of a tribute to his mother's memory. But the fact remained that he had had a lot of time to think things through and draw blueprints.

He wasn't sure what had made his ancestors chose the island. It did have a good sea access for trade but that was pretty much canceled by the whirlpool fields that surrounded it. The whirlpools themselves did provide a defense from warships, and distracted water walking shinobi enough to make them easy targets. But the destruction of Uzu had proven that it was a mistake to rely too heavily on it.

He planned for new Uzu to be even harder to conquer than Taki and had poured his knowledge in engineering, building, sealing, and complex chakra into the project. While the safe houses were useful, they were also test runs for his arrays. Recreating and ecosystem that was not only self-sufficient but in many ways incomplete was a lot of hard work and a lot of things could go wrong. The safe houses basically had water, grass, flowers, trees, Koi fish and a hot spring. If they weren't lined in sealing arrays that purified the water and air, and fed the appropriate complex chakra types everything would have been dead in a matter of weeks. He didn't want to build an underground village, only for it to fail and kill itself because of a faulty seal.

First was the island, it would be the main access point to the deeper village and would host most of the business with other villages. Since it was the most visible part it would have to show Uzu's strength in an impressive display of both opulence and military might. The buildings would have to be both beautiful and intimidating, but that would mostly be Natsuko's job.

His first course of action was to create an army of clones to construct what would be the equivalent of the Kage Tower. They quickly got to work, digging trenches for the foundations, unsealing raw materials and preparing them for use.

Meanwhile he started 'digging' a hole, a very big and deep hole that descended at a forty five degree angle.

The way to new Uzu was open.

/

She had finished the wall. It had taken her another week but she had finished. As an added bonus her Lava manipulation had improved by a fair amount. The island was now surrounded by a high and sturdy wall at its very edge; she had had to 'fix' the ground in some points where jutsu damage had eroded it. It certainly made an impressive sight, if it wasn't for the change in color the wall would seem like a continuation of the island floor. At regular intervals she had constructed one hundred foot high watchtowers. They weren't overly large but if war ever came to the island they could host a few squads to hold back attackers until reinforcements arrived. Being a hundred feet above their enemies would also give the defenders the advantage.

The only breach was about a hundred and fifty yards wide and was the entrance to the harbor, and at each side she had built a more impressive tower. While these two towers weren't higher, they were considerably larger and could host more than enough shinobi to repel anyone who sought to force their way in. From there two shorter walls went inland for about a hundred feet or so to prevent anyone from sneaking in. (AN/ For a Birdseye view of the Uzu wall picture a circle (the island is pretty much circular) with a small part rubbed off at the top and a short line coming inwards from each end.)

The last step had been to paint chakra nullifying seals on all the outside face. The chakra nullifying seal was a fairly complex array, and while she understood it she wasn't capable of modifying it so she was using a model Naruto had designed. This type of seal wasn't to be confused with chakra restraining seals use on captives. The nullifying seal worked by dispersing all chakra that touched it, the energy wasn't absorbed or reversed it was simply dashed away, like warm air when it hits a cold surface. And of course in the same way that a cold surface could only take so much arm air before it heated up, a nullifying seal could only take so much chakra before it failed. In the case of this particular seal the amount of chakra was defined by how much was used to charge the seal. Natsuko had charged each seal, with one seal per section of wall, with roughly half a tail of youki, a half tail being about as much as the wall could take without becoming a health hazard. Of course with youki being many time more potent that meant that the seals could disperse a lot of chakra. She estimated that it would take at least thirty high A-rank jutsu in quick succession to break the seal, and then they still had to destroy the wall itself.

All in all she was proud of her work, and now she was going to have fun designing the beautiful 'top side' of their village. She could see her partner's clones working on the main building and from the looks of things that's where the entrance to the 'under-side' of the village would be too. So far it looked like he was going for a 'traditional feudal castle' look. That was mildly surprising since, while it would look good, it was a mostly wooden structure and thus not as enduring as the usual stone construction of a Kage tower. But she didn't let that bother her, he would probably paint more security seals on the thing than one could find on all the other Kage towers combined.

Enough of that! She had her own building to do. The first, and probably least elaborate part, would be the warehouses. They would be located at the harbor and would serve mostly as a display area for future buyers, at least how she picture it. After all why would need buildings just for storage when a well-designed seal was many times better, both for security and practicality? In fact why didn't most villages use storage seals? She had seen the large convoys of wood that left Konoha and hadn't questioned it at the time, but seeing the scroll Naruto gave her and the ridiculously huge amounts of wood and other materials he seemed to carry around with him she couldn't help but wonder why others didn't do the same. Then again most civilians couldn't mold chakra; or rather they didn't take the time to learn how, so using scrolls for commercial transport may not be possible for them.

She would just have to make sure that in HER village that wasn't the case.

There was also the question of how ships would get past those blasted whirlpool fields without ending up as driftwood. Now that she had finished the straightforward, if exhausting, wall Natsuko was starting to realize the difference between wanting to build a village and actually building it. She really hadn't thought things through.

Deciding to go about it another way she plopped down into a cross legged sitting position with her left elbow on her knee and her chin resting on the heel of her left hand. Placing her right palm on the loose soil in front of her she started channeling Douton chakra and manipulating it. She had memorized the general lay of the island so she first raised a miniature equivalent. She proceeded to add the walls, towers and what she had seen of Naruto's castle. Then she started playing around, adding warehouses and hotels, moving them around, changing one to a restaurant or a shop, coming up with different street layouts, trying different ideas for the stadium and generally messing about to find the best setup.

In the end she decided on a fairly simple layout. The warehouses would be built along the water front so that there was easy access to the ships in the harbor. A customs office would control all in and outgoing, be it goods or people. Next would be shops, restaurants and whatever other commerce there was however she wasn't going to build those yet and would simply divide the space into plots. That way shop owners would have a say in how their establishment was built. The third 'circle' as she liked to call them would be composed of hotels and private houses for the more prestigious visitors and guests. There was still a good bit of space until the castle, which was located about two third of the way inland, and she intended to have the extra room converted into a park or garden. It would serve a dual purpose; first it would be beautiful enough to make the jealousy of any Daimyo; and second, if there was an attack and if the enemy got this far it would make a good battle field, a battle field where the defender would have a large advantage since she intended to set up remote activated defenses. It would be a death trap!

Over to the West side of the island, with the harbor being at the North, would be the exam complex. It would consist of examination rooms, a team testing area similar to the Forest of Death, and the stadium itself. She had already decided that it would be used not only for eventual chuunin exams hosted by Uzu, but to test the teams they would send to chuunin exams in other villages. She had learnt how important the village's reputation would be for prospective clients and wouldn't risk sending undertrained teams.

The rest of the island would be a mixture of different terrains for training grounds.

There wasn't much to say about the building themselves: the warehouses were just large empty rooms built of wood and mostly stone bricks. The shops were waiting for owners to be built. The hotels were all quite luxurious but weren't innovative, simply bringing slight modifications to the usual styles. The houses were divided into two groups: first were the houses for important guests such as Kages and Daimyos; second were the houses for honored guests such as Koyuki, Gaara and Tazuna. Of course she hoped that they would be allowed access to the deeper parts of Uzu but that would mostly depend on Naruto.

'Speaking of,' she thought as she created thousands of clones and sent them of in groups to start construction. 'It's been two weeks since I've last seen him.' That was by far the longest amount of time they'd been apart in more than three years.

She pushed the thought aside. They were going to live VERY long lives so there were bound to be times when they were apart. Shifting a bit to one side she sat in front of a clear space and started trying out new ideas for the stadium.

/

The corner of Naruto's mouth twitched in a small smile as he felt the shift in his chakra. He had been 'digging' for about a day and a half now, going slowly to make sure that there would be no cave-ins. The shift was due to the change from earth to water as his chakra probe breached the side of the island near to the ocean floor. Digging tunnel with Douton manipulation was a simple matter of creating a probe in the desired shape and perhaps a dozen feet long then pushing the earth outwards, compacting it to reinforce the walls; floor and ceiling. It had become harder as he got deeper. The soft earth giving place to hard rock, but that ensured that the tunnel wouldn't collapse under the increased mass above it. He was now getting to the delicate part, ending the tunnel without flooding it.

But he had, of course, planned for this. His Eternal Ice was the key to success. The name never failed to bring a smile to his face since it actually wasn't ice. The chakra composition was very close, incredibly close actually, but there was still a difference. When he created it he had been trying to find a way to prevent the ice from melting. He had heard of a clan from Kiri whose Kekkai Genki allowed them to use ice that didn't melt, something he couldn't claim.

He had already been quite advanced in complex chakra by that time but there was one aspect he couldn't quite harness. Some of the Sub-Elements were commonly attributed properties that didn't really make sense. Ice, for example, melts. Whether infused with chakra or not, when face with a strong enough flame ice melts.

So why then does that clan's ice not melt?

Likewise, the Shodaime's Mokuton gave him the ability to bind the Bijuu and even control them. The obvious question, though apparently not so obvious for the general masses, was: why would wood allow him to control demons?

Creating Wood chakra and Ice chakra was easy for Naruto but neither had those special properties. His best guess was that the complex chakra created by the Kekkai Genki was more just than Ice or Wood. So he had experimented and eventually found a solution.

Eternal Ice was made of three base elements: Water; Wind and Earth. Like normal ice it was mostly made of the first two and in the same way. The difference was that the Earth chakra stabilized the whole and gave a complex chakra that would be better named as Crystal chakra. It was incredibly hard but also remarkably light. The reason he continued to call it Eternal Ice rather than Crystal was to commemorate how he discovered it.

That was what he was going to do now using the abundant sea water. The village wouldn't only be underground. It would be underwater, protected by swirling whirlpools and treacherous currents. He started by creating a batch of shadow clones and having them stand at regular intervals all the way along the tunnel. He could do it bit by bit like Natsuko did the wall, but since the clones wouldn't need to use much chakra-only enough to maintain the manipulation-this way would be faster.

Seeing his clones in position, he closed his eyes and focused on his chakra. Elemental manipulation was a question of infusing the chakra into the correct base element and then shaping it, this was the reason most shinobi couldn't perform Suiton jutsu without a source of water; Douton jutsu out at sea; etc. Contrary to popular belief the Nidaime Hokage's bloodline didn't permit him to create water out of nothing, but to draw the ambient water from the air around him. Something any skilled Suiton user could learn with enough effort. It was possible to create something from chakra but it required extreme amounts of chakra to do so and even then it was an unstable parody. The Kage Bushin was a perfect example of this flesh and bone created from large amounts of neutral chakra, but a single hit and the entire construct would collapse.

Molding his chakra into the combination for Crystal chakra he focused it, gathering into the air around him, into the remaining rock in front of him and into the sea water beyond. The rock gradually turned into a transparent blue and expanded outwards. Naruto made the Crystal pass along the tunnel, coating the surfaces in a thick layer until it was half way towards his first clone. The clone then took over the manipulation and directed it along his section of the tunnel until it reached the next clone, and so on. The original kept producing and feeding the crystal down the chain, he had taken care to stop early enough that he had a large enough rock source to do the combination. It was a good thing that the Eternal Ice used very little Earth in comparison to Wind and Water.

When the chain reached its end the last clone he (the clone) settled everything into place by spilling it out to cover the floor giving the impression of a smooth surface made of precious stone, using the Earth chakra portion to give it a darker, opaque color. The clone then dispelled itself. Receiving the memory feedback the real Naruto stopped the backwards flow and started extending the tunnel forwards until it connected with the ocean floor, keeping the end closed so as not to drown himself in a flood of salt water.

He stopped at that point, knowing that the next part would be both time consuming and chakra expensive, even for a chakra monster like him.

FLASHBACK (A/N This is more of a partial flashback, it will be continued at a later date, when the time is right (^_^))

Natsuko collapsed onto Naruto's bare chest, her firm breasts smooching between their perspiring bodies. It had been a few days since they first made love and they had spent most of that time putting the expression 'Going at it like bunnies' to the test. That left large groups of shadow clones smoldering in jealousy as they were forced to continue training while listening to the increasingly load moans and screams of delight. Not to mention having to clean up the 'flooding' left in the wake of the two love birds. Needless to say if it wasn't for the fact that clone had to do their assigned task and would disperse on their creators death there would have been a full blown revolution in the safe house.

Blissfully ignoring her doppelgangers' malcontent, the female Uzumaki pushed herself onto her elbows so she could peer into her lover's eyes. She shifted her weight onto her right arm and, with her left index finger traced across his collar bone eliciting a small shiver from him. She continued down, past the spot above his heart where their mother was sealed (The seal doesn't show unless chakra is being channeled into it.), and down to his stomach, her finger rising and falling with the dips and rises of his toned abs.

"What's this one for?" She asked, trailing her finger along the scrawl of a large seal. "It looks like the one I have for Kyuubi."

Naruto flicked his eyes down, even though he knew what she was talking about, having placed it there himself.

"It only looks like yours because I wanted it to." He answered. "It's a common practice for seal masters to have the actual array of their more complex seals hidden in a design. It makes it harder for other's to understand it. This particular seal does quite a few things. How big do you think my chakra reserves are?"

"I don't know. But you're easily Kage level."

Naruto snorted softly causing her to give him a frowning pout. He shook his head in amusement. "Sorry, it's just that a Kage is generally defined as the strongest ninja in the village, so technically if there aren't any ninja above chuunin level…" He pushed the thought aside and got back to answering his own question. "I've already told you that the Uzumaki have large chakra reserves. Okaa-chan, for example, had the largest in Konoha. I'd say she had at least three times as much as Minato and she was a Kenjutsu specialist so they weren't as large as they could have been. There's a reason the KKI (Kumo Kiri Iwa) alliance didn't even try to get Uzu to join them and just launched a surprise attack, they couldn't afford to have them as enemies. A fully trained Uzumaki could, quite literally, throw high level jutsu for hours on end. You however have the Kyuubi on top of the Uzumaki Kekkai Genki so your reserves are already higher than even the best Uzumaki ninjutsu specialists were. You could already create a thousand Kage Bushin when your chakra control was all but non-existent. And that's a lot since I never saw kaa-chan make more than about one thousand five hundred. I…"

"Hang on a minute!" Natsuko interrupted incredulously. "What do you mean she could only make one thousand five hundred? I can create over five thousand if I want! Hell I've seen Kakashi make at least fifty and that was after a fight with Zabuza!"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "I think you're underestimating how hard the jutsu is to perform. There's a good reason it's classified as a kinjutsu. Hell, there are a bunch of good reasons. I've known Kakashi and I seriously doubt that he can create more than five shadow clones, especially given how lazy he became after he got his teammate's Sharingan."

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline at that snippet but she was too curious about the previous matter to ask about it. "Well I'm telling you I saw him make at least fifty!"

He sighed. "OK! OK! Tell me what happened."

"Well…that's it! He fought Zabuza, then Gato arrived with his thugs so I created a bunch of shadow clones and so did he."

"OK! But are you sure he made Kage Bushin?" He countered. "Keep in mind that the various bushin techniques are some of the easiest to do without seals. I doubt he's smart enough but he could even have made the hand seal for Kage Bushin and used Mizu Bushin instead, or Tsuchi Bushin or even a regular academy Bushin! The fact is that you saw him make a bunch of clones and you assumed they were the same type as yours."

Her mouth opened and shut a few times as she realized he was right.

"Besides," He added. "If it was that easy to everyone would do Kage Bushin training."

"Hang on a minute!..again." She exclaimed before finishing sheepishly at the volume of her voice. "Does that mean kaa-san had, um, three hundred times more chakra than Kakashi?"

He shook his head no. "Not at all, remember the basic scrolls on chakra. At any given time the human body produces chakra and, if the ninja's reserves are full, that chakra leaks out of his/her body. As the ninja grows, gets stronger and trains the amount produced slowly gets bigger. As it gets bigger it puts a strain on the ninja's chakra coils and ends up damaging them. Fortunately the damage is little enough that the ninja's natural healing repairs it and, in the process of doing so, reinforces and thickens the chakra coils. The more a ninja's reserves grow the thicker and tougher their coils get. The Uzumaki naturally have thicker and tougher chakra coils so we can handle the strain of Kage Bushin much better. In your case the Kyuubi adds more pressure to your coils forcing them to develop even more, which is why you have big reserves even for an Uzumaki."

She nodded slowly in understanding then looked at him, confused. "What about you? I know you can make just as many clones as me but you don't have a demo…" She trailed of, eyes wide as she looked back down at the seal on his belly.

"Wo-ooh!" Naruto exclaimed. "Slow down there hime! I don't have a demon sealed in me. I would have told you ages ago if that were the case. No, the seal has a couple of purposes. One of which is to create a thin barrier all around my body that stops my chakra from leaking out and forces it back into my chakra coils. That puts more strain on them and so on and so on…"

"So.." She started hesitantly. "How big are your chakra stores?"

"Well, I painted the seal on when I was eighteen so I've had it for about six years. I also got some serious boosts by taking chakra pills when my reserves were already full." He frowned at the memory. "That hurts like a bitch by the way. So…yeah, my reserves are quite a lot bigger that yours still." He grinned at her. "You can call me the chakra monster."

…

END FLASHBACK

When he was well rested Naruto headed down to the end of the tunnel. He walked, using chakra to stick the smooth and slippery slope of the Eternal Ice tunnel. There wasn't much to see, the violent waters prevented any kind of life from taking root. But that didn't stop him from taking pleasure in the fact that he may well be the first person ever to see such depths. When he got to the end he ran his hand over the Crystal wall in front of him as he looked out onto the rocky ocean bed. He settled down in a lotus position and took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself for the strain to come.

Placing his palms firmly on the floor beneath him he once again molded Crystal chakra and sent it out in pulses, eyes closed and concentrating on what his senses detected. Crystal came first, obviously, and then there was water, a layer of sand and finally hard cold rock. All in all he had everything he needed. Digging deep into his reserves he pulled up a large amount of chakra, molded it into Crystal chakra and spread it out giving it the shape he desired.

The overall form was cylindrical but with the top being curved like a squished dome so that it could withstand the pressure of all the water pressing down on it. Naruto pumped more and more chakra into it until the circumference roughly matched that of Konoha. From his position near the ocean bed the cylinder rose about six hundred feet (200m) to give ample space for the town to be built. It then descended twice as far under the sea floor, finishing in a flat bottom surface.

As soon as he had the shape in place, making sure that it was properly connected to the tunnel, Naruto allowed his chakra to start drawing in the physical elements required to create the submerged village's shell. He controlled it so that water was only drawn from the inside, or rather what would become the inside when he finished, and rock was taken from the areas that needed to be cleared for the shell to take place.

The outward effect was incredible. Wind was sucked down the tunnel at gale force speeds forcing Naruto to divert chakra into his but cheeks and thighs just to stay seated. The water level inside the dome shaped part started to drop as the shimmering transparent blue shell of Eternal Ice started to form. Cracks appeared regularly as the weight of the outside water pressed down on it, forcing Naruto to pump even more chakra in to compensate. Sweat poured down his face only to be blown off by the forceful winds as the stormed past. The excess rock cracked as it was pushed out of the way of the forming crystal. For what seemed like hours but could have been days he leant every part of his concentration to his task, building the walls up to sixty feet thick (20m) in all places. When all the water on the inside was used he started draining from outside the shell, winds still raging around him, until he was finally done.

Naruto slumped onto his back and uncurled his legs, trying to stretch out the stiffness. He was whacked! He still had a bit of chakra left but the mental drain gave him a headache of ungodly proportions. With a last small effort he made a group of five clones and sent them to check his work. He then promptly fell asleep.

When he woke up he sifted through his memories and found the clones' observations. It wasn't a perfect circle, which was to be expected, but there were no cracks or thin spots so he was rather happy with himself. Getting to his feet he walked into the dome, exiting the tunnel without problem since the clones had opened it. Time to get to work!

First he created a large group of a thousand Kage Bushin to start carving the environment seals into the shell. The tunnel provided air for the moment but when the village was full of people that wouldn't be enough. Each seal was carved three times using Complex manipulation to place an array at five, ten and fifteen feet in the shell so that if one was damaged there would be two backups. The clones worked in twos: one carving and the other making sure there were no mistakes.

While they did that the original started using Earth manipulation to dig under the 'top dome'. He intended to create a number of different 'zones', some for training areas, some for growing plants or raising livestock and some for training areas. The best part was that, depending on the seals he put in place around these zones, he could create the perfect environment. Uzu would be able to produce the best and rarest of goods allowing the village to not only be totally independent, but also a very influential exporter.

The rock he cleared out was compacted into blocks for civilian style building purposes. There was still a lot of work to do but there heavy part was done, with clones working on the rest it wouldn't take too long for Uzugakure to be ready to open its doors.

Chapter 05: Village Life and Chunin Exams.

Natsuko stretched her arms up above her head, rising on tip-toes and yawning in a decidedly unfeminine manner. Building was boring. She and her brother had swapped work locations, she was now in Lower Uzu building houses and he was in Upper Uzu doing…something…with the whirlpools.

Building houses, and other buildings, was a lot easier, and faster, with the use of thousands of shadow clones. But, while the massive work force pushed multitasking to the extreme, it didn't make the walls go up any faster. A wall could have only so many clones working on it at once. When that was done there was only so much space for them to work on the roof, the plumbing, the electrics, etc. yes, clones made things go faster but, as they say, Uzugakure wasn't built in a day.

Natsuko had helped for the first few hours, before she got too bored to continue and left. She had gone to one of the many underground training areas that Naruto had designed. The environment seal made it a mild climate and a large open stretch grass, it would self-repair which made it ideal for trying out the more destructive jutsu in her arsenal.

She was working on the Rasengan. Or, more importantly, Elemental Rasengan. She wasn't sure why she hadn't done so before since many of the techniques she had developed were vastly more complicated than 'spinning chakra'. Maybe it was because she had been having too much fun creating Lava Tigers, Wind Dragons and Heat Bunnies. That last one was surprisingly dangerous, a swarm of transparent bunny rabbits that look completely inoffensive but can give third degree burns with the slightest contact. But, deep down she knew that it was because it was her father's technique. A father that, like Naruto, she had grown to hate. She respected his choice to defend his Village but to her family was everything. If a Village had to be burnt to the ground to keep them safe then so be it. It was a slightly monstrous philosophy and one that was heavily influenced by Naruto. She knew that if she hadn't met her half-brother, banishment or not, she would have understood her father's plight and forgiven him. As it were, the last two members of the Uzumaki Clan were selfishly devoted to each other and they wouldn't have it any other way.

And therein lied the problem. Minato Namikaze had always intended to add Elemental Manipulation to the Rasengan, so for her to do so would be like completing his legacy. She had had the same problem with the Hiraishin and it was only Naruto's words of advice that convinced her to master the technique.

"A weapon is a weapon. It's the user that counts, not the one who made it."

Standing in the middle of the grassy expanse she lifted her right hand, fingers split and slightly cupped. In the past she would have charged up a Rasengan and tried to shove Elemental Chakra into it, but she now had experience on jutsu creation and knew it was always best to think things through before actually doing anything.

First she had to choose what type of chakra she was going to use. Her nickname of 'Burning Wave' meant either Lava or Heat and, with a mental coin toss, she decided on starting with Heat. The actual creation of a Rasengan with Heat Chakra wouldn't be difficult. In fact she already knew that she could do it. The hard part was anticipating the effects.

The normal Rasengan was really a rather simple but still very powerful jutsu. It's basic spherical form allowed for a high concentration of rotating chakra that gave it a high penetrative ability. Adding Elemental, or in this case Complex chakra would conserve the basic penetrative ability and add another, more specific one.

Natsuko clamped her eyes shut in concentration as she tried to anticipate what would happen.

'A Heat Rasengan will obviously be…well…hot! I'll have to keep in in tight control or the temperature around me will rise to unbearable levels. On the up side I won't get showered with blood. The heat will cauterize the wounds instantly, making it even harder, if not impossible to heal. And that's on the off chance it isn't an instant kill. What am I missing, what am I missing? The Fire portion is covered so what about the Wind… with the rotation inside the sphere I'll have to go for a cutting wind rather than air pressure… I'll need to make sure not to destroy my own arm.'

Deciding to get to work she brought her hands up in the very familiar cross like seal.

"Kage Bushin!"

With a popping noise and a small cloud of smoke five clones appeared in front of her. She pointed at the one to the far left.

"You! You know what to do!"

The clone nodded and vanished in a blur of speed. It stopped a good distance away from the rest and held its hand out, palm up in concentration. Natsuko had quickly learnt that it was best to have clones try out new jutsu before doing so herself, it spared her the unpleasant backlash that usually accompanied failures. Directly manipulating the Element opened a lot more possibilities than using hand seals, but it didn't make jutsu creation any less dangerous. While the clones generally couldn't use the invented techniques to their maximum potential they were a good way to smooth out the kinks.

Natsuko watched as the clone channeled Heat chakra forming a swirling ball in the palm of her hand. The ball remained the same size as usual but the air around it started to shimmer as the temperature rose.

"MORE CONTROL DAMN-IT! KEEP THE HEAT IN!"

The clone started to follow its creator's directives and the surrounding haze started to dissipate when suddenly the jutsu spun out of control and a silent explosion blasted out, releasing a shockwave of hot air that dispersed the clone and turned all the grass in a twelve foot radius black.

Natsuko nodded as she felt the clone's memories filter through her mind. She pointed another clone.

"Alright you're next. Make sure to keep the heat in. Hmm…try creating a shell around it, it should help."

The clone dashed over to the charred circular patch of grass and started forming a Rasengan. Natsuko immediately the difference, there was a bit of a shimmer in the air but nowhere near what happened during the first attempt. She watched as the whirling bell of energy in the clones became less and less visible until it was only noticeable by the small spherical distortion in the palm of the clone's hand. A hand that, for some reason, the clone had lifted above its head.

Suddenly the jutsu collapsed. There was no visible indication. The only reason she knew was because: one, the clone was obliterated; two, everything in a fifty foot radius was gone leaving only a thin cloud of dust.

Before she could figure out what happened a warm wind buffeted her, it wasn't hot, and in fact it was rather pleasant like a summer zephyr.

Where the clone once stood there was now a one hundred foot wide crater carved right out of the ground. There was no rubble and the soil and rock was blackened from the heat. Looking closer as the dust began to settle, Natsuko saw that, roughly ten feet down, the crater became a perfectly flat and horizontal surface. She puzzled over the enigma for a moment before realizing that it was her brother's seals that had prevented the damage from going further.

She chuckled and rubbed the nape of her neck. Either he had really scary foresight or she was just that predictable. She was leaning towards a combination of the two.

As she reviewed the clones memories the last female Uzumaki's eyebrows rose. She now understood why the clone had raised the jutsu above its head, while it hadn't been visible to the naked eye the Heat Rasengan was actually surrounded by a halo of sharpened Complex chakra at its equator. She also noticed that her thought on wind blades was a severe downplay of what happened. When the Heat Rasengan detonated it actually sent an explosion of microscopic heat needles. From the way the clone was destroyed, those needles not only cut at a cellular level, they were hot enough to incinerate everything around them.

'Well that certainly explains the state of the training field. The needles rip everything to shreds and the heat disintegrates what's left. Everything in range is completely erased… I'll have to find a better way to deliver the jutsu or I'll end up killing myself. Until then I'll have to settle for using clones. But man…the technique is pretty simple but its easily one of my most destructive.'

'I wonder what one of Naruto-kun's complex Rasengan looks like.'

She brought her hands up in a seal and created a large group of clones.

"Alright girls! Spread out and practice making a Heat Release: Rasengan! I want to be able to make one at a split second's notice!"

"YES MA'AM!"

The clones jumped off, each choosing their own spot in the large training field, and got to work. They would form the jutsu and then let it collapse without detonating it so that they wouldn't disperse themselves and they could keep training.

The original stood there, watching them and trying to come up with a feasible way to use the jutsu without blowing herself up at the same time.

"That's pretty neat."

"KYAA!"

Natsuko leapt ten feet in the air as a voice spoke right beside her. She twisted in the air and landed on her feet, clutching at her heart as she caught her breath. She looked up to see Naruto standing there with a raised eyebrow and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Damn it! Don't creep up on me like that!"

The second eyebrow rose and an amused grin stretched his lips.

"Creep up on you?" He asked incredulously.

Natsuko's face flushed at his words and the fact that, while his chakra was restrained, he wasn't putting any effort into masking it, making him something akin to a walking bonfire of chakra. A walking bonfire of chakra that she somehow…hadn't, detected.

Deciding not to further her embracement, the blonde brushed off some imaginary dust and turned back to her observations, purposefully ignoring her brother's amused chuckles. They both watched in companionable silence for a few minutes, wincing when one of the clones lost control and wiped out another section of the field. After a moment's thought Naruto cleared his throat and pointed towards the training clones.

"I take it you're using a shell of chakra around the Rasengan to contain the heat until you want to unleash it?" He prompted, getting a nod in return.

"And you're still looking for a way to deliver the attack without getting caught up in it?"

Another nod.

"Have you tried throwing it?"

Natsuko frowned. She had thought about throwing it, but she had discarded the idea. If she threw the Rasengan it would simply collapse on itself. The only way it would work was if the shell held it together, but the problem remained the same, if she threw the Rasengan the shell would break apart because she wasn't holding it together. Nonetheless she knew that her brother wouldn't have mentioned it if he hadn't found a way to do it, so she scratched her cheek and tried to work it out.

'I could create a chakra string attached to the shell and use it both to maintain the shell and direct the Rasengan. But there are loads of faults it that idea, if a stray jutsu or even just a chakra enhanced kunai cuts the string before the Rasengan reaches its target it'll blow up. Having to control the chakra string will make one of my hands pretty much useless if I need my taijutsu. No, all in all it not a great idea.'

'What then? The key is the shell, if I can keep it up then…air currents!'

'I can use my control of Heat chakra to create a current that leads right to the target! Then I'll just have to slide the shell all the way down. And if the target moves I just have to redirect the current! Haha!'

'let's give this a go!'

She progressively dispelled all the clones, filing the memories as they came, and by the time they were all gone she felt comfortable that she could form a perfectly stable Heat Release: Rasengan in no more than two seconds. Too long for battle situations, but all in all not bad going. She then created a two clones and sent them over to non-damaged areas a good distance from each other before stepping back next to Naruto.

As soon as it was in position the first clone charged up the jutsu in its right hand, barely taking two seconds as expected. It lifted the hand up above its head, carefully keeping away from the almost invisible circular blade, and moved onto the next step. It brought its left hand up, palm facing its target and focused on manipulating Heat to create a current. The hand wouldn't be necessary afterwards, but for the moment it provided extra focus. As soon as it felt ready the clone swung its right arm around, as if throwing a Fuuma shuriken, and launched the jutsu.

When it got into place the second waited for its counterpart to make its move. It didn't have to wait long. When the other clone brought its hand up number two felt a slight change in the air as a warm breeze wafted by. It was almost soothing, inviting. The clone took a mental note of the effect, knowing that it would reach the original later on. If she could make the current pleasant enough that the target was tempted to savour it, and subtle enough that it didn't rise suspicion, it would make the jutsu even more deadly. It pushed the thoughts aside as number two made a throwing gesture. Seeing no reason to make the test run too easy it jumped to the side. Feeling the current follow, number two started dodging, though not at top speeds, until it felt a burning warmth slice into its midriff…and the world went white.

The two Uzumaki watched as one of the clones jumped around in evasive manoeuvres while the other concentrated on manipulating the heat current and maintaining the shell around the Rasengan. Their eyebrows rose as a slice of the dodging clone vanished and a moment later a one hundred foot crater followed suite.

"Well there you go!"

Natsuko gave a hollow laugh at her brother's nonchalant response to the powerful technique.

"You know, I kind of feel cheated that it's such a powerful technique when I have loads that require much more complex manipulations that aren't half as destructive." She said with a frown.

Naruto nodded.

"The Rasengan substitutes skill with raw power. Well…from our view point at least. It's a concentration of chakra, elemental or not, released in one go for devastating effects. Unless you want to rip someone apart it's pretty useless. Besides, the amount of chakra it uses is enormous even compared to a normal Rasengan, just one full powered Elemental Rasengan would use more than half the reserves of a jounin level shinobi."

He looked out at the field and the various craters that decorated it.

"As the saying goes: 'it's easier to destroy than it is to create.'"

Natsuko nodded in understanding, unlike regular jutsu when the two Uzumaki created an animal shaped Elemental attack it generally implied more creation than it did destruction, mostly because they weaved the chakra in such a way that the animal actually had a basic intelligence. If they launched a fire dragon it would go after its target like a dragon goes after its prey, rather than just blasting forwards like a katon jutsu.

"Anyway! I didn't come down here to discuss the finer points of Ninjutsu, we've got to get going!"

The blonde haired Jinchuuriki blinked at the exclamation.

"What do you mean? Where are we going?"

"Hm…well the village is built, your clones will last long enough to finish the houses and after that all that needs doing is shops and clan compounds, but we've already agreed that we'd wait so people can choose how those buildings should be designed. Now what we've got to do is try to make alliances, both commercial and military, and spread the word about new Uzugakure."

"OK," Natsuko replied. "I think we should talk to Tazuna first. We did say we'd keep in touch, and Wave would be a great place to start as far as commercial alliances are concerned."

Recognizing that this was more her domain the male Uzumaki motioned for her to continue.

"From there I guess we could either head North towards Spring Country or South towards the Land of Sea. I think North would be better, that way, once we've seen Koyuki-hime, we can cycle down through some of the other countries I've visited. I think we should be able to create trade alliances with most of them, but I don't know about military alliances. The only problem is that we'll have to cut through Fire Country."

Naruto gave a dismissive, one-shouldered shrug.

"You know you're banishment was revoked by the Fire Daimyo himself, you may no longer be a Konoha kunoichi but you're not a missing-nin either. Besides, if you're going to be Shodaime Uzukage, we're going to have to deal with representatives of the Leaf sooner or later…we might as well get it over with."

Natsuko sighed dramatically.

"I guess so. I just know that they won't just let it go. Even with the Daimyo's decree I'm sure the council and Tsunade will try and mess with us."

An absolutely evil smile stretched across Naruto's face and his eyes lit up in an unearthly glow.

"Well then, we'll just have to take a few precautions, won't we?

/-/-/-/-/-\\-\\-\\-\\-\

In a dark cave a dull violet light pulsed and throbbed rhythmically, illuminating a massive statue. The statue was of an upper torso and head with two arms held in front of it, palms raised and fingers curled up. It's wrists were shackled, there was a bit in its mouth and a blindfold over the upper part of its face. From under the blindfold multiple eyes could be seen, glowing with power, two on the left and three on the right.

Standing on the statue's fingertips were eight outlined figures, their eyes being the only distinguishable feature. In front of the statue, suspended a dozen feet in the air, was an old man with red hair, a beard and a generally 'rugged' appearance. His eyes were closed as if he were sleeping but back was contorted, bending at an unnatural angle due to the excruciating pain he was experiencing.

Nine dragon-like effigies poured from the statues mouth and seemed to be devouring the suspended man's chakra.

The throbbing light reached a crescendo and then, without warning, died out completely. The dragons pulled back to the statue's mouth, making the bit glow with the stored energy until it dissolved and disappeared down the stone throat. Between the two visible sets of eyes another slowly slid open, making a longer series of six.

From the right thumb a tall man with spiky hair and grey eyes with three concentric circles surrounding the pupil looked coldly at the others.

"With the Two through Seven-Tails sealed you shall all have new assignments. First, Zetsu what can you tell us of Deidara and Sasori's killers?"

From the right little finger a man with large protrusions resembling a Venus Fly Trap shuffled on his feet and, strangely, alternated between two distinct voices as he spoke.

"Well Leader-sama, it turns out that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was responsible. She and a new companion were able to defeat Deidara and Sasori as they were crossing the desert."

The slight narrowing of his eyes was he only visible indication of the Leader's frown.

"From previous assessments the Nine-Tails' vessel should not have such skill. Are you certain of your information? Did you witness the battle?"

The plant-like man bristled slightly at his reconnaissance skills being questioned but answered all the same.

"The fight was over too fast for us to see it. We were waiting at the planned extraction location and by the time went to check on them the battle was long finished. As for the Nine-Tails' involvement…what little was left of Sasori's puppets was found in a large explosion crater with traces of the Kyuubi's youki. Deidara was killed either by a jutsu or a poison that literally destroyed all his blood, but there was no indication that it was the Kyuubi's doing."

The Leader turned to the man on the right ring finger.

"Itachi, you have observed the Nine-Tails the most. What do you think of this?"

The Uchiha fixed his blank gaze on the man and answered in a low, monotonous voice.

"Before her banishment Natsuko-san's skills were…nonexistent. While she had vast potential I suspect that, in Konoha, her development was severely stunted. If she were able to find a strong individual willing to teach her she could become a serious threat. Our inability to locate her during these last year's lends weight to the likelihood of her receiving assistance."

"Does anyone have an idea as to who is helping her?" The ripple eyed man asked.

There was silence for a while before a man with a hood on his head and green eyes with red sclera spoke distractedly from the left middle finger.

"Maybe…"

"Yes Kakuzu?"

The Taki missing-nin looked up and spoke clearly.

"I'm not sure if it's them…but over the last few months a pair of shinobi has been making a name for themselves on the black market, they've collected the bounties for quite a few high level ninja. Not much is known about them, not even their real identities, which is surprisingly rare at that level. They go by the aliases 'Bloody Storm' and 'Burning Wave'. I can't be sure if it's them…but the fact that they popped up around the same time that the Nine-Tails came out of hiding, and with a companion no less…"

"Indeed…Well then Kakuzu, Hidan, you will be charged with locating and apprehending the Nine-Tails. Itachi, Kisame, you will head to Kumo and capture the Eight-Tails. Dismissed."

One by one the silhouettes flickered out until only three were left. The spiky haired ring eyed man, another man with a mask that had a swirl-like pattern that converged on the right eye, and the only woman of the group, her hair decorated by a single paper rose.

"Why haven't you sent someone after the Ichibi? You do remember that the Kyuubi must be sealed last or the Gedo Mazo will break."

Pain looked at the masked figure standing on the left thumb, staring unflinchingly at the single visible Sharingan before answering respectfully.

"The Nine-Tails vessel and her companion have helped the One-Tail once. If they were to do so again we would be at a disadvantage. Even if they lose Hidan and Kakuzu will survive the fight and we will have more information on their abilities. Once the Nine Tails is in our hands we will easily catch the One-Tail and then, extract the Nine."

The swirl mask dipped as it's wearer nodded once in acknowledgment of the plan.

"Very well. Do not fail."

One after the other the three disappeared.

/-/-/-/-/-\\-\\-\\-\\-\

"For the last time, no! I will not force Jiraya to apprentice the Uchiha!"

Senju Tsunade was at the end of her, admittedly, rather short fuse. When she informed the Council of Natsuko's involvement in the Kazekage's rescue, and more importantly the death of two S-Rank missing-nin, they had redoubled their attempts to get special training for the 'last Uchiha'.

And now elders Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were back again.

To the busty blonde, it seemed as if they were in her office at least ten times a day. It had come to the point where she actually looked forward to getting back to her paperwork. Of course by the time she could finally get back to it the paperwork would have doubled, and until then she still had two persistent fossils to deal with.

"Come now, Tsunade-chan surely even you can see that…"

Like a miracle from Kami-sama herself, a distraction, in the form of her perverted Team-mate, literally jumped in through the window.

"Hey there Tsu-hime! Do you have a moment for the gallant…"

"What do you want Jiraya?" She asked tiredly.

The Toad Sannin sighed dramatically at the lack of appreciation.

"Oh nothing much…just thought I'd tell you that Natsuko's headed towards the Land of Waves." He said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"WHAT!"

Surprisingly the scream didn't come from Tsunade but from the councillors. Ignoring their outburst, and stifling her own, Tsunade pressed Konoha's spy master for more information using her usual delicate approach.

"You'd better explain yourself Jiraya or you'll be spending the next month stuck in the hospital attended only by male nurses."

Jiraya heaved a theatrical sigh as he tried, and failed, to hide the shiver of fear that ran down his back. Properly cowed by the horrendous threat he hurried to explain himself.

"I've had my network looking out for any sign of her ever since she disappeared. They never saw heads or tails of her until the incident in Suna and after that she dropped off the grid again. Last night I got a message from one of my sources that someone matching her description was seen arriving in the Land of Waves."

Tsunade leaned forwards and pressed a button on her desk, activating the intercom to her assistant.

"Aiko-san Have Team's 7 and 8 report to me immediately!"

She sat back in her chair and frowned thoughtfully.

"Do you know what she's doing in Wave Jiraya?"

He shrugged.

"Probably visiting friends or something. From what I hear she's quite the hero there."

There was a moment's silence before Koharu decided to make her opinion known.

"Tsunade-chan, I think it would be best if we were to send an ANBU team to retrieve the girl. Perhaps Danzo…"

"NO! I already have the Daimyo breathing down my neck. With every letter he sends, he makes a point of reminding me that he has given 'Uzumaki Natsuko a full pardon of all past charges brought against her'. I don't want to risk having Konoha's budget cut again."

Any thought the elders had of protesting vanished at that statement. Things were already tight, what with the lack of trade alliances. There was still trade of course, the prices just weren't as profitable as they once were. That, coupled with the fact that many of their clients had redirected their mission requests to Suna and Kiri, meant that if the Daimyo were to decree another cut to the village's budget, it would spell doom for Konoha.

Jiraya saw a problem with the teams assigned to the mission.

"Are you sure you want to send Team 7 Tsu-hime?"

When she shot him a puzzled look he continued.

"Let me put it this way. Lat time she saw the Uchiha he rammed a Chidori through her chest. Last time she saw the Haruno she got punched in the head for 'hurting sasuke-kun'. I don't think they're the best choice if you want to avoid problems."

The last Senju's brow crinkled in thought and she nodded but before she could answer there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and the members of the two teams she called for walked in. she was momentarily surprised at Kakashi's timely arrival, but then she remembered that he had probably been with his team when they got the summons. As she focused on the new comers she was only slightly relieved to see the council elders slipping out of her office.

'Old bastards! Probably off to think up some new scheme!'

She watched as the eight shinobi lined up in front of her before speaking.

"Team 8 Kakashi and Sai you will be accompanying Jiraya on a mission to the Land of Waves. You'll…"

"What about me and Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shrieked.

Tsunade winced at the volume. Despite her best efforts the pink haired girl still communicated in ear splitting shrieks.

"Given the nature of this mission, or rather the target, Jiraya and I feel that it's best if you stand down."

At her response both Sasuke and Sakura frowned. Seeing this, Kakashi interceded on his students behalf.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sure that whatever the mission is Sasuke and Sakura are up to the task."

She sighed as they nodded their agreement. Well sakura did, Sasuke gave his trademark "Hn!".

"You're not going! That's final!"

She directed her attention to the others.

"Your mission is to locate Uzumaki Natsuko and escort her back to Konoha!"

/-/-/-/-/-\\-\\-\\-\\-\

"Natsuko-nee-chan! You're back!"

"Hi Inari-kun! How are you?"

Natsuko gave her trademark foxy grin as she ruffled the preteen's hair, making him blush bright red, and she stepped into the house. The kid then turned to the other Uzumaki and gave a small bow.

"Hello Naruto-onii-san. Are you here to see granddad?"

Naruto gave a nod and a smile while giving the boy a manly slap on the shoulder. It was quite obvious that the kid had a crush on Natsuko, but since he was just a kid Naruto wasn't bothered. He also seemed to idolise Naruto to the same degree, if not more, than the female Uzumaki. Naruto found it rather amusing, guessing that it was a combination of him saving his mother from the bandits and being able to get such a beautiful girlfriend. Naruto was brought out of his musings when his sister answered the question.

"Yeah we wanted to talk about some business stuff, is he around?"

Inari nodded and, after sitting them in some comfortable chairs in the living room, ran off to get his grandfather. A few minutes later the bridge builder walked in and sat opposite them.

"Hey gakis, good to see you back! So what's this Inari was saying about business?"

It took the two Uzumaki roughly half an hour to get Tazuna up to date on the status of Uzugakure and to give him an idea of their plans for the future. By the time they were done he cracked out a small bottle of sake, all the bigger ones had been 'confiscated' by Tsunami, and drained it.

"If what you're saying is true, then Uzu's going to completely upturn the economic balance of the Elemental Nations."

They nodded and Natsuko said.

"Yes, that's why we'll introduce our merchandise slowly rather than flood the market. It will also give us some time, sooner or later Uzugakure will attract attention but by the time other Villages become aware of us it'll be too late."

Tazuna looked at them dubiously.

"You make it sound like they'd attack you."

"They would," Naruto replied. "It'll probably take years for Uzugakure to be able to compete with the major villages. At the moment our true advantage is that tensions are already high with the Akatsuki threat. Until that's solved, one way or another, I doubt that any of the villages will want to start fights. Nonetheless, with the way things are going I'd say that the Fourth Great Shinobi War is close."

Tazuna paled and even Natsuko looked a bit shocked. With what she had learned over the years she knew it was a possibility but the way her partner said it made it sound inevitable. Seeing their reactions Naruto gave a small, one-shouldered shrug and explained.

"Iwa has been itching for a fight since it's humiliating defeat at the end of the third war. Kumo is the most militarized of the villages and won't pass up an opportunity to extend their influence, plus with Konoha weakened they have a better shot at finally getting the Byakugan. Kiri has lost some of its most powerful Bloodline clans and is still recovering from a civil war so it makes a good target. Suna has always been the weakest of the Five Greats, if it weren't for Gaara it's be easy picking. And lastly Konoha has worked its way into a tight situation and will probably end up trying something desperate."

He took a breath before continuing.

"Then of course there's Orochimaru, who's most likely planning all sorts of trouble even as we speak. All in all, everyone's got either a reason to attack, or a reason to be attacked, as soon as someone does it'll be a chain reaction and everyone else will get dragged in."

Natsuko looked a bit worried. She knew that, with the way they had built it, Uzu could resist almost any attacking force. But a full blown war would be a problem unless they lived completely cut off from the rest of the world.

"So what are we going to do?" She asked despondently.

Naruto smiled softly and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry! The war will break out, but the villages aren't what they used to be. I doubt that it'll last long before they're forced to put an end to it. For now let's concentrate on our trade alliances."

He turned to Tazuna and adopted a 'business voice'.

"Now! As you may or may not know the island that Uzugakure is built on isn't easily accessible because of the whirlpool fields. In fact, from what I understand, those fields are even more violent now than they were before. As you can imagine that's going to make trade a bit complicated."

Tazuna nodded sagely and took another sip of sake.

"Yeah! We've taken over Gato's old company but that ships would have trouble getting past one whirlpool, let alone a whole field of them." He said.

"Exactly," Naruto agreed. "But we have a solution. We've been able to design a sealing array that allows us to temporarily create a channel that ships can sail on and access Uzugakure." He starred at the ceiling and tapped his chin a few times as he searched for a way to explain. "At first we had wanted to make a seal that actually stopped the whirlpools in a certain area so that boats could get past, but it would require way too much chakra to power it. What this seal does instead is pull a large sheet of water over the whirlpools to create a 'bridge' of sorts. It still requires a lot of chakra but Natsuko-chan or I can easily power it, and later on it'll only take two or three shinobi with jounin level reserves to keep it active long enough for ships to get in and out."

From there Natsuko took over the explanation.

"What we've figured is that, since we won't have to answer to a Daimyo, we can choose who to deal with. There aren't that many shipping companies anyway, but if we solely do business with 'Wave Shipping Companies' it'll give you a great advantage on the others."

Tazuna nodded. When the Land of Waves was freed from Gato's tyranny they took the opportunity to take his businesses and make them the property of the entire town. Now, there was a council of elected citizens in place to run it. He wasn't in charge, but with his position as mayor he would be able to present the offer, and he had no doubt that it would be unanimously accepted.

"But what do you get out of the deal?" He asked curiously. He didn't doubt their generosity, but he knew that limiting their village to one shipping company was quite a risk.

Natsuko sat back in her chair.

"Basically," She answered. "We would like a two-part treaty. The first part would concern trade. Wave get exclusive rights over the Uzu trade lines and in return Uzugakure get a percentage of the shares. The second part would be a military agreement. Uzu will provide security via shinobi presence on board Waves' ships as well as Wave itself if you so wish. We'd also like to include the possibility, for those who want to, to attend the Uzugakure Shinobi Academy."

Tazuna frowned in thought. Them asking for a share of the profit might not go down so well, but it wasn't an outrageous demand. The town was making already more money than they needed anyway, and that would only increase with this deal. The one fear that still remained hidden in the hearts of the people of Wave was that a thug or, Kami forbid, a powerful shinobi would try and pull a Gato and take over their island.

A protective shinobi force would alleviate those fears, and if some of their own children could receive shinobi training it was even better.

"Hang on a mo'!" The old bridge builder exclaimed. "I thought you said you didn't have enough shinobi."

Naruto shook his head.

"We don't have enough to wage a war. But a few of the clans of Old-Uzu are still around. Their numbers are a bit low but with them and some of the 'decent' missing-nin that we can recruit we'll have enough to mount a security force."

Tazuna set his cup down and stood.

"OK! I'll submit the idea to the council so they can vote on it but I'm pretty sure that they'll agree. It'll probably take a while to write the contract up, but it should be done by the end of the month."

They exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before the Uzumaki duo took their leave.

Heading North, they walked across the 'Great Natsuko Bridge' and stepped into Fire Country. It was midafternoon and, while they had a long journey to cross Fire Country, they forwent tree hopping and set a steady pace following the established routes. When sunset came they stopped in a clearing of one of the many, and extensive, forests.

"What kind of camp should we have tonight?" Natsuko asked as she looked around. "Wood, Stone, Crystal, Metal?"

"Let's go with a simple stone bunker." Naruto replied easily. "If Konoha-nin happen upon us we don't want to give too much away by having a four star crystal palace rather than a tent."

"Spoilsport." Natsuko muttered as she watched him walk past the tree line and into the forest.

She walked to the middle of the clearing and slammed her right palm into the ground. In a blink a house sized stone dome formed with a rectangular chimney sticking out of the side and an average, door sized, arch-like entrance (Like a stone igloo with a chimney at the back). after summoning two tigers to stand watch she walked in. She stopped at the back, next to the chimney, and tapped her foot on the ground making it press down and form a pit for the fire.

Just as she finished unsealing the sleeping bags Naruto walked in with a load of dry wood. He stacked the small logs next to the chimney, piled some in the pit and set them on fire with a burst of chakra induced flames.

After a short but tasty meal, despite the lack of ramen, Naruto laid down on top of his sleeping bag, not needing to get inside since the open fire easily provided enough warmth in the enclosed space. As per the usual, rather than go to her own bedding, Natsuko crawled over to her brother's and curled up next to him. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, and together they fell into a contented sleep.

Waking up before her brother the next morning, Natsuko popped out to take care of her 'business'. on the way back in she smiled at the two sentry tigers she had summoned. They were both small and relatively young, and now that she was awake they felt they could let down their guard a little and have some fun. As she walked past them they were busy fooling around, climbing on top of each other in a play fight.

She smiled lovingly at the still sleeping form of her brother, only visible by the daylight behind her and the light from the dying embers of the night's fire. The smile turned into a devilish grin as she got an idea.

/-/-/-/-/Lemon Incest + animal (cat) fetish\\-\\-\\-\\-\

Naruto woke to the sensation of something damp and slightly rough on his face. He didn't panic or even open his eyes since he knew that only two people could have gotten this close without him waking up. He had a lot of experience of being 'licked' by his sister's tongue so he quickly deduced that it wasn't her.

"Kisa-chan, stop it." He said groggily. (A/N: Remember Kisa is his personal tiger summons)

He was startled as he got a small growl in return and snapped his eyes open. He was surprised to find that it was his sister. He looked at her for a moment trying to figure out what was different, and despite his keen shinobi senses it took him a while.

She was naked, but that was a common enough occurrence that it didn't phase him beyond the usual admiration of her undressed form. He watched as she knelt next to him, smiling impishly. His eyes travelled down past her firm breasts and stiff nipples, across her toned belly and slender waist and along her long legs and wide hips. His eyes switched back to her face and he blinked as he realized what he had as of yet failed to notice.

She had whiskers.

Not just the thin, almost unnoticeable whisker marks that usually decorated her cheeks, but actual tiger-like whiskers that protruded from her skin. A more thorough examination showed that she was also sporting feline ears on top of her head in the same shade as her strawberry blonde hair. Her body was covered with short, soft white fur, decorated in yellow stripes. Around her ankles and wrists were thicker bracelet-like patches of yellow striped white fur and her tailbone had lengthened into nine delicate, foot and a half long tails with the same yellow on white stripped pattern.

"Cute…don't you think this is taking the whole 'role play sex' thing a little far?" Naruto asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Despite his words Naruto couldn't quite hide the quiver of arousal in his voice, something that his, now very feline, sister was quick to pick up on. She leaned so that they were nose to nose, staring into each other's eyes and…

"Meow!"

The male Uzumaki blinked in surprise. That hadn't been a human imitation of an animal's cry. It was an actual 'meow'! His brow twitched.

"Um…Natsu-chan…you didn't change you vocal cords to replicate a cat's did you?" He asked, giving the distinct impression that he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Meow!" The small nod 'yes' was barely needed to correctly interpret the answer.

"Definitely taking it too far…" He muttered under his breath but not quietly enough for her to miss it. "I hope she hasn't got flees!"

A sharp hiss told him his humor wasn't appreciated. He was suddenly forced to back away as his sister's fingernails sharpened into claws and she started slashing at the clothes he had slept in. within seconds he was as naked as she was and the inside of the stone bunker was littered with the shredded remains of his cloths.

The numerous slash marks that covered Naruto's body closed, courtesy of his healing factor, leaving no trace of scaring on his flesh.

Natsuko's mood did a complete one eighty, switching from angry street cat to cuddly kitten in the blink of an eye. She crawled forwards on all fours and proceeded to comb the rippling muscles of her brother's six pack with her feline tongue. Naruto leaned his head back and groaned as she worked her way, very slowly, towards his rapidly hardening member. When she drew level with his trimmed patch of pubic hair she nuzzled it affectionately with the bridge of her nose, purring loudly all the time.

She drew away and started licking one of her hands, sensually drawing her tongue along her fingers. When her hand was slick and glistening, she poised her mouth above Naruto's stiff dick and let copious amounts of her cool saliva dribble onto it. Once she was satisfied with the amount, one of her hands came up and fastened itself around his phallus, squeezing it tightly before starting a slow pumping motion. Thanks to the lubrication there was very little resistance as her iron grip went from base to tip, rubbing the sensitive cock-head in with a stimulating roll of her wrist, before pushing back down to the base.

Naruto had to wonder just how much the transformation had affected her thought process as she pumped his lengthy tool with an expression of cat-like curiosity painted on her face. Her enthusiasm got the best of her and she increased the pace until she was stroking up, rolling the head and pumping back down at an incredible speed, purring gleefully all the while.

After five minutes of the frantic hand job they both felt Naruto's cock swell in preparation of his release, and with five more pumps he grunted and blasted his seed out. Natsuko's heightened reflexes kicked in as she felt the high pressure ejaculation rush through her brother's thick tube and her unoccupied hand shot up, covering to tip to intercept the load. Strong ropes of hot and sticky cum sprayed out and splashed against her palm as she continued to stroke his meat pole, only stopping when she had finally coaxed out every last drop.

Naruto panted slightly to catch his breath but didn't soften in the least, especially as he saw his lover's next action. With her cum covered palm held almost level with the tip of his cock she dipped her head down a started lapping up the steamy white substance like a cat laps up milk. Naruto watched in fascination as she worked her way through the whole load until her hand was squeaky clean. She then turned her attention to the blobs of cum that had splashed onto his thighs, cock and stomach, her rough tongue sending tingles dancing through his still sensitive body.

Once all her brother's seed had been cleaned up, Natsuko sat back on her haunches, tilted her head to one side and looked at him expectantly. Knowing full well what she wanted Naruto brought his hands up in a seal and focused on the image he wanted, his skill with the Kage Henge wasn't comparable to his lover's, but it was still remarkable. With a tiny puff of smoke his body was covered in short, blood red fur and black tiger-like stripes. Two cat-like ears, red like his hair but with black tips, sprouted from the top of his head. Three short whiskers protruded from each cheek. A tail grew from his backside and his ankles and wrists shifted, changing his feet and hands into tiger-like paws.

Natsuko purred happily and climbed on top of him, rubbing her whiskered face against his, hyper-stimulating them both from the friction to the sensitive area. Bringing her hands up, she racked her claws softly across his chest, his newly acquired, and thickened hide preventing them from drawing blood. For a brief moment Naruto wondered if he had taken his transformation too far, as he felt an intense need to mount the appetizing female.

Apparently she had similar ideas as she pushed off of him and turned around, exposing her back to him. She rested on hands and knees, her nine tails high and swaying from side to side, displaying her glistening snatch.

Crawling up behind her, Naruto lowered his head and brought his mouth level with his mate's waiting pussy. Her dragged his coarse tongue up and down, lapping up the juices that started to trickle out. His sharp senses told him of the building heat inside her so he dipped his tongue in, exploring her inner flesh eagerly.

Natsuko sighed in relief as the attention of her mate's tongue soothed the building heat. Her purring increased in volume as it brushed against her 'special spots', triggering a faster flow of juices. Having had enough of the very 'human' foreplay she used her tail to bash the side of his head a few times, warding him away from her nether regions.

Understanding the implied message, Naruto gave one last lick that dragged along her lips, between her cheeks and over her dark rose bud. He then climbed on top of her smaller frame until his head was directly over hers, her middle tail pressed between her back and his chest and the others wrapping around him, holding him close. He nuzzled his face into the back of her neck as his large, eleven inch cock slapped against the wet surface of her private (though not for him) area.

She twisted her head around and looked into his eyes as her own clearly showed her desire.

"Meow!"

Once again the message was clear and he immediately acted on it. He shifted his hips around until he felt the tip of his mushroom head press against his mate's womanhood, the leaking fluids flowing around the obstruction and bathing it in their warmth.

With an animalistic thrust he drove forward, his chest rumbling in a deep growl of primal satisfaction as her tight sheath swallowed his big cock. They both gave in to their instincts and slammed into each other. Naruto using the flexibility provided by the new configuration of his leg bones to pound into her constricting folds with relentless downwards thrusts that literally made the hard ground crack under the applied force. Natsuko bearing down so as not to collapse under the powerful blows while also biting down on her lower lip as she tightened her vaginal walls to increase both their pleasure.

For over half an hour the two animalistic Uzumaki slapped into each other, triggering multiple orgasms that wracked through the females sweating body. The sounds of their growling, meowing and wet colliding flesh echoing inside the bunker and throughout the clearing. Naruto's powerful jaw clamped down on his sister's shoulder, restraining her movements and forcing her to meet his thrusts and take his long member even deeper than before.

With an ultimate push Naruto sunk his creature as deep as it could go, burying it so far in Natsuko's quivering folds that the bulbous head dug into the velvety roof of her oven hot womb. With a roar that could put the bravest lions to shame he exploded inside her, launching her into yet another climax as he unleashed strand after strand of warm, thick and potent semen.

Exhausted from the thorough fucking he had just given and the massive outward rush of bodily fluids, Naruto tiredly pushed off with his forepaws, barely avoiding crushing his sister with his weight as he collapsed on his back.

With her 'animal' mating desires sated, Natsuko returned to a more human mindset. She turned around and seeing her lover's supine form decided to teach him that males weren't always the dominant gender.

She pounced on him, straddling his waist and grinding against his rock hard monster, smearing it with a mixture of their juices. She drew her claws, sinking them into his broad chest muscles to anchor herself down before lifting her hips up and positioning his fat cock head at the tight entrance to her other hole.

With a drawn out mewl the strawberry blonde dropped herself, letting gravity work its magic as her brother's thick cock speared into her ass, stretching her impossibly tight anus to its limits and sliding through her bowls. The large invading member put so much pressure on her innards that that the store of Naruto's thick cum was forced out of her womb and sloshed onto his muscled belly.

She sat there, her tails swaying behind her as she basked in the fullness her dark tunnel was experiencing, counting each pulse as the blood pumped through her mate's thick shaft. Not yet wanting to lose that fullness, even for a moment, she started rolling her hips in small, sensuous circles, grinding the cock inside her as she massaged it with her intestinal walls.

Naruto grit his teeth to prevent himself from howling out in pain and pleasure as Natsuko's claws dug into his well-developed pectoral muscles and her tiny asshole dropped onto his massive cock, sucking it all the way in until his large ball sack was nestled under her soft, but firm butt cheeks and forcing his own hot, viscous seed to spill out from her well filled snatch. The pain, while still there, was blown far off into the background as his sister rolled her ass in tight circles, her slimy rectum working wonders on his throbbing meat pole.

Never stopping the slow, agonizing rotations of her pelvis, Natsuko added lifts and falls, dragging herself up and down the thick shaft in a sensuous dance, tightening her anal sphincter on the upstroke and loosening it on the down-stroke. The slow and steady pace of the forbidden act caused an equally slow and steady rise towards climax as their building passion stoked the fires in their loins.

For another half hour this continued, their burning release drawing ever closer, sweat glistening of their fur covered bodies, their breathing deep and rhythmic and their pounding heartbeats resounding in perfect sync.

When they finally reached their limit it wasn't a bursting explosion of lust, but a slow, bleeding flood of love that fused their bodies together. Naruto's hard member released a continuous flow of steamy white cream, filling his sister's bowels with a soothing warmth that spread to every corner of her pleasure gorged body. Natsuko's pool of nectar overflowed causing her heated pussy to discharge what was left of her brother's second release and her own syrupy fluids. The sexual concoction spilt across his toned abs, clinging to the short fur and bathing him in the erotic, but very messy proof of their coupling.

Despite the slow pace both Uzumaki found themselves exhausted and Natsuko slumped onto her brother's chest, his cock slipping out with a pop as she fell forwards. In a puff of smoke both their transformations were cancelled and they both laid there, holding each other lovingly as they recovered.

/-/-/-/-/Lemon end\\-\\-\\-\\-\

When they got up they cleaned off using Water Manipulation for a nice warm wash. Naruto then unsealed, and got dressed in his usual clothes. Natsuko decided to go for a slightly different style. Black kunoichi boots that rose up just past her knees, tight black leather shorts that only covered the very tops of her thighs, a tight red tank top and her usual black trench coat and fingerless gloves.

They collapsed the stone bunker and Naruto used complex chakra to return the clearing to its initial state before they dismissed the tigers and headed off.

Two hours later they stopped in another clearing as they felt a group of incoming chakra signatures.

"It's been ages but I think I recognize Kakashi and Jiraya, what about you?" Naruto asked as they drew closer.

Natsuko shook her head as she followed their approach.

"I don't know." She answered. "Most of them are familiar, but I wasn't trained to recognize people by their chakra until I met you."

"Well I guess we're about to find out." He finished as seven blurs appeared, surrounding them.

Chapter 06: Konoha Dealings.

Uzumaki Naruto looked coolly, coldly even, at the seven Konoha ninja that had surrounded them. They weren't in threatening positions, but they were strategically blocking all the exits.

Uzumaki Naruto had prepare for this day. His fighting skills were second to none but he had always been more of a thinker. So, the moment he discovered that his precious half-sister was in fact alive, he had started preparing for the day he would meet those responsible for making him believe she was dead. Similarly, the moment he discovered the treatment his beloved Natsuko had received in Konoha, he had prepared for the day he would met those responsible for stunting her growth and generally making her life miserable.

He knew that blowing his top and killing everyone involved was a bad idea…but it was so tempting.

Three years of preparation and it was taking all his considerable resolve not to blast Jiraya's head off before ripping his still warm corpse into bloody shreds.

Three years of preparation and it was taking everything he had to not shove the most painful blood curdling jutsu in his repertoire down Kakashi's throat.

He forced himself to take a deep, calming breath and focused on the others.

Those he didn't feel like dismembering.

A quick scan of the group gave enough information to deduce who these people were.

'Jiraya and Kakashi are givens…'though I'm surprised by how little Kakashi seems to have grown in power since I left Konoha. Neither seem to have recognized me yet. Yuuhi Kurenai I recognize from the Bingo Book, can't say I'm particularly impressed. An Inuzuka, an Aburame and a Hyuuga…the perfect tracking team, they obviously didn't just stumble across us.' He thought back to Natsuko's stories of her time in the Hidden Leaf and tried to come up with their names. 'Shino, Kiba and Hinata if I remember correctly.' He smirked at the shocked look on the Hyuuga's face. 'Your Byakugan won't work on us princess. And last…sweet Kami-sama what is with that smile? He looks like he's got something shoved up his ass!'

Trying hard not to let his mind ponder what kind of depravity was brining that creepy smile to the unknown shinobi's face, Naruto turned towards the jounin he would have least problems dealing with. He knew that he would be doing most of the talking at first, to give Natsuko time to sort out her feelings of seeing Konoha ninja for the first time since her banishment.

"Can we help you Kurenai-san?"

Kurenai blinked, a bit surprised that she was the one addressed, by name no less, when both Jiraya and Kakashi were by far the most notorious of the group. Nonetheless, there was no reason not to answer and neither of the previously mentioned were making any objections.

"Well…" She paused for a moment when she realized that while he knew her name, she didn't know his. "We are here to escort Uzumaki Natsuko to Konoha, by order of the Hokage."

Naruto tilted his head to his sister. Her face was in the expressionless but attentive gaze that she often used in battle. Her eyes were hard blanks, hiding her thoughts even from him. They had agreed that they would go to Konoha if a situation such as this one arose. But now that it had, he wanted to be sure that she was still OK with it.

"Natsu-chan," He said, nudging her softly on the shoulder. "Natsuko-chan. What do you think? You still want to go to Konoha?"

Her head turned at the sound of his caring voice, her eyes softened slightly and she nodded once slowly.

"'course! We agreed that we'd go so let's go."

Jiraya chose this moment to speak up. He took a step forwards and raised a palm in a warding motion.

"Hold on! We are taking Natsuko to Konoha but you, young man, are not invited."

It was a test more than anything else. Jiraya really had no objection to this mystery shinobi's presence, in fact he was curious because he looked a little familiar. He also knew that Tsunade would be pissed if they couldn't find out more about what Natsuko did during these last few years, and who she had spent them with. However, what the Toad Sage really wanted was to make it seem as if they were going to be separated so that he could get a reaction and, hopefully, an indication of the extent of their relationship.

He would get a lot more than he had bargained for.

Naruto was well aware of the subtle manipulation. He also knew that it was a bluff and that Jiraya couldn't simply refuse his presence as Natsuko's escort. The Fire Daimyo's Pardon had been for both 'Uzumaki Natsuko' and her 'companions'. it was a strange and very favorable phrasing since it indirectly solved the problem of Konoha declaring him a missing-nin once they figured out who he was.

Restraining the rising anger caused by the simple sound of the Sannin's voice, Naruto decided that the subtle test deserved a not so subtle answer. Normally he didn't like making a scene of himself. Normally he would just site the Daimyo's Pardon and be done with it.

But this case wasn't normal. If he couldn't beat on them with his fists, he would beat on them with his words.

He let a slight, but seemingly kind smile quirk the corners of his mouth and contrasted it by speaking in a calm and cold voice.

"Are you sure Jiraya-san? By now I'm sure you know that Natsuko-chan and I killed Deidara of the Rock and Sasori of the Red Sands, what you probably don't know is that the fight barely even lasted five minutes. How exactly do you plan on separating us when two shinobi of there caliber couldn't?"

Natsuko smirked at her brother's words. She knew how pissed he was at Konoha for how her life had turned out, there was a rather large series of craters near the mountain safe house to prove it. It was probably taking a considerable effort for him to not, at the very least, unleash that monstrous Killing Intent of his.

She could still remember his explanation on the subject. Killing Intent was, simply put, an aura of chakra infused with the intention to kill, maim, or otherwise hurt. It could be focused or widespread, weak enough to cause slight discomfort or strong enough to induce images of death. Regardless of focus or strength, the feel of the Killing Intent produced was different from one person to the next and from one situation to the next. For some it was tinged with bloodlust, for others it was laced with hatred, rage, determination, confidence… What made Naruto's so disturbing was that it didn't project his belief that he could kill his opponent, but the absolute certainty that he would. It sounded simple, but in truth it required a twist of the mind that she found impossible to achieve. In the ninja world a genin could kill a Kage if he/she got incredibly lucky, as such nothing was ever certain. Naruto was well aware of that, but he was somehow able to disregard it.

The blonde haired Uzumaki switched her attention to Kakashi as he stepped up next to Jiraya, his one visible eye narrowed.

"You may be strong but against two S-Rank shinobi and five jounin lev…"

He was interrupted when Naruto snorted…loudly.

"S-Rank?" He asked, not even pretending to hide his disdain. "You think you're an S-Rank? Jiraya, I'll admit is definitely worthy of an S-Rank, but you? You're upper A-Rank at best. Kurenai-san may be gifted in Genjutsu but judging by her chakra reserves she'll be little more than a distraction at our level…no offence," He added with a quick glance to the crimson eyed kunoichi. "As for the other four the only one at jounin level is the guy that looks like he's got a vibrating dildo up his ass. They may be jounin level in their clan techniques but I doubt they're even low-chuunin in any of the other ninja arts…"

Natsuko's smirk grew a bit wider as her brother continued venting his anger by systematically pointing out their various failings. He was always blunt in pointing out weaknesses but he was never really cruel about it. This time, he was obviously making a bit of an exception. The growing scowls on most of the Konoha nins faces were only serving to egg him on.

"…where's your dog? Did it find a better bone to chew on?…"

She was quite surprised by just how little seeing her old 'Senseis' and classmates affected her. She had been rather nervous about the reunion, but she now found that it was somewhat like meeting an old, but not particularly liked, acquaintance. She would be able to fight without hesitation if it came down to it but, unlike Naruto, she couldn't really bring herself to hate them. True, her main problem would be with Tsunade, Sasuke, Sakura and, to a lesser extent, the Council, but she had a feeling it would be the same. They just weren't worth the effort.

"…you were obviously counting on numbers to make up for your general lack of competence but…"

Natsuko sweat dropped as she realized that Naruto was really getting onto a roll with his insults and didn't seem to be finishing anytime soon.

'Sweet Kami-sama…what has gotten in to him? He's been lecturing for almost five minutes already! Where's he coming up with this stuff?'

"Naruto-kun!" She interrupted, bemusedly wondering why the Konoha team just stood there and listened to him as he bad mouthed them. "I…think they get the picture."

The male Uzumaki blinked once, twice, then grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry I got a bit carried away there!" He turned back to Jiraya, returning his face to its usual calm façade. "Anyway…I'm sure you know that the Fire Daimyo has granted Pardon of past crimes to Natsuko-chan and her companions, namely me. We were guaranteed safe passage through Fire Country as long as we do not purposefully cause trouble. So you do not have the authority to deny her an escort of her choice."

Jiraya had gone deathly pale. When he heard what Natsuko called her companion he suddenly understood why he seemed familiar.

'How is that possible? He was supposed to be dead! He looks like he's in his late teens, if he was alive all this time he should be in his mid-twenties! Kuso! This means Natsuko knows about her heritage!'

Jiraya hadn't had anything against Naruto. When he had used the Dead Clone Seal to fake Natsuko's death, after the sealing of the Kyuubi, it hadn't been an easy decision. The problem was that, while Jiraya was certain the boy would have taken good care of his half-sister, he didn't think he would have stayed in Konoha to do so. The kid may have hidden his dislike for Minato well enough to fool everyone else, but Jiraya wasn't the creator of one of the best spy networks in all the Elemental Nations for nothing, he had known that the young Uzumaki wouldn't want his sister to be kept in Konoha. Unfortunately for him, allowing the girl to leave Konoha hadn't been an option. The Toad Sage had consulted with Sarutobi and together they had agreed to fake the baby girl's death. A mild Genjutsu while the distraught boy was alone with the body had ensured he felt compelled to flee the Village, and after that a Hunter-nin squad had taken care of him quickly and discreetly. There hadn't been a body but that was hardly a rare occurrence when Ninjutsu was involved, so it hadn't drawn suspicion. Yes, his death had been planned, but it hadn't been personal…it was just the way the shinobi world worked.

And now, the proverbial skeleton in the closet was coming back to haunt him.

The Sannin was startled from his worried thoughts by the loud voice of the brash Inuzuka.

"Oi! Where do get off talking shit about us like that?" Kiba exclaimed rudely as he took a few threatening steps forward. "We're proud shinobi of the Leaf! You think some no name like you can just pop up and say what he wants? Huh! Huh!"

There was a collective sweat-drop as he waited for a response, teeth bared and breathing heavily. Naruto looked at him with an amused glint in his eyes.

"You're a little slow aren't you?"

Remembering how easily provoked Kiba could be, Natsuko decided to act before things escalated. The last thing she needed was for them to give Naruto a reason to attack.

"Ne? Jiraya-san, if everything's cleared up, shall we go now?" She asked politely. "From here I believe we should be able to reach Konoha by late afternoon."

He blinked in surprise, having expected the hyperactive knucklehead from before rather than a calm and serious kunoichi that was now impassively waiting for his reply. The change was unsettling, it reminded him, quite eerily, of a 'business mode' Kushina.

"Yep!" He said, slipping back into his usual genial persona. "Let's get going! The last thing we need is for Tsu-hime to get angry at us for being late."

With that said he turned tail and set off, tree hoping towards Konoha. The two Uzumaki shared a glance before following silently.

"Who the Hell does that teme think he is?" Kiba grumbled as he and the rest of the group also followed. "I'll show him who's weak!"

"Kiba!" Kurenai interrupted harshly. "Our mission is to escort them to see Hokage-sama. Don't go starting fights! Even if he provokes you!" She added when he started to protest.

"Hmpff…whatever!"

0°0°0°0°0°0

Natsuko had mixed feelings as she saw the great gates of Konoha for the first time in what seemed like a very long time. Funnily enough she found that she hated…no, she totally loathed the sight. She had been, and still was, indifferent to the members of her escort, but the Village itself brought back a host of bad memories and negative emotions. There were equal amounts of sadness and anger at the treatment she received, but for the most part it was disappointment. Not in the Village, but in herself.

She sigh at the irony. She had always been called her a disappointment, the 'Dead Last' as they said. And now she actually agreed with the assessment. On top of that, the almost fanatical devotion she once had for the Village now made her skin crawl in disgust.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist and a tension she hadn't noticed building up left her body as she relaxed into the partial embrace. She tilted her head up slightly, resting it against Naruto's firm and muscular arm, not quite being tall enough to reach his shoulder.

"You OK?" He asked gently.

"Mm."

"We can still go on a killing spree if you'd like."

She snorted softly at his casual offer, he didn't even bother lowering his voice. Something which hadn't failed to catch the attention of their guides.

"You going to stir up trouble if you keep talking like that." She chastised. "Besides…it isn't like you to be so hot headed."

"'Pft'. You're right. I'm just pissed at the way these bastards treated you. I'll bet you your weight in sushi that they'll try to get you to rejoin the Konoha Forces."

"I'll bet you your weight in ramen that they'll try to convince me it's what my father would have wanted."

They both shared a small laugh at that. They had arrived at the gates but neither paid much attention as Jiraya checked in with the chuunin guards until he turned to them.

"It's getting a bit late so I think it'll be best if you meet Tsunade tomorrow." He said to the duo. "Kurenai can show you to a good hotel and an ANBU will tell you when and where the meeting is."

Naruto shook his head.

"We'll be alright. We can find a room without problem. We'll see you tomorrow."

He took his sister's hand and led the way towards one of the richer parts of Konoha to find a place to stay for their time in Konoha.

They eventually chose to take the 'grand suite' in the most luxurious hotel they could find, the 'Royal Leaf Hotel'. They had received gushing welcomes when they paid in advance for the entire week, even though they didn't intend to stay that long. Surprisingly they didn't have any trouble with the receptionist or the management when they booked using the name Uzumaki. Whether that was because the young woman and her middle-aged boss didn't make the connection with the Kyuubi-Brat, because they honestly didn't care, or because it had been such a long time since anyone had been willing to pay the exorbitant price to rent the high class suite, they didn't know.

It was still relatively early, so rather than go to their room they decided to go out and get a bite to eat. Of course, with Natsuko involved, food in Konoha could spell only one thing…

Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto didn't even try to stop his laughter as a drooling Natsuko dragged him across Konoha. They reached the modest bar on record time and brushed aside the hangings as a ramen hungry blonde barged in. There were no customers present so they immediately spotted the pretty brunette in a white waitress kimono standing behind the counter.

"Good evening!" The ramen girl said cheerfully when she saw them. "Welcome to…"

"Ayame-nee-chan!"

The young woman blinked in surprise, the only person who had ever called her 'nee-chan' was… her eyes widened in shock.

"Na…Natsuk…ko-chan?" She stuttered uncertainly as she looked the blonde haired beauty up and down, trying to pick out any familiar features that would assure her this wasn't some sick joke. Her search was brought to an abrupt halt when the girl flew over the counter and pulled her into a crushing hug.

Hearing some sort of commotion, Teuchi came out from the back room to investigate. The first thing he saw was a tall, well-built man with blood red hair, dressed all in black and with a black katana hanging from his shoulder standing near the entrance. Drawn by the sound of cheerful sobbing his eyes then shifted over to the sight of two hugging females. He recognized the first as his soon-to-be twenty two year old daughter. The second, however, he didn't recognize and he was thoroughly surprised by the familiarity she seemed to share with his daughter.

Since Natsuko's banishment the Ichiraku's had been mildly shunned by the majority of the Village. They were two of the very, very few people who were openly against the decision, and it certainly hadn't made them any friends. For the most part the citizens of the Leaf had been separated into two groups: those who celebrated the 'Demon's' banishment, and those who just didn't care. The old ramen chef knew that it was fortunate that their friendship with Natsuko was a long established thing, their clientele was mostly made up of the 'indifferent' so they hadn't lost much business over it.

Nonetheless, on a personal basis, even the indifferent avoided them, not wanting to be labeled as social outcasts. As such their social lives were now close to nonexistent. Despite that, neither Ichiraku could bring themselves to regret their decision. A fact that was compounded by the group photograph of them with a twelve year old Natsuko that was proudly displayed on the wall.

Teuchi blinked as he looked back and forth from the photo to the unknown crying girl.

'Bright yellow hair… Sky blue eyes… faint whisker-like marks on her cheeks…'

"Natsuko?" He asked in a shaky voice before joining the hug when she gave a small nod.

Naruto watched the scene unfold with a smile on his face. He was glad that there were some people who treated his love properly. He also didn't fail to notice that the ramen bar looked a little run down. It wasn't anything glaring, and the place was well maintained. But the chairs and tables looked a bit worn from use, the walls were a bit chipped and the counter surface a bit dented. All in all it looked as if business wasn't going too well, and from the proudly displayed photo on the wall he had a good idea as to why.

"So what are you doing here?" Teuchi asked as he looked at Natsuko sternly. "We heard you were banished."

"I was! But it's been too long since I had any of your ramen so we came back!" She replied faking the obliviousness she was once well known for.

The two Uzumaki strained to keep straight faces at their horrified expressions. When Teuchi pulled Natsuko behind him defensively and started looking from side to side as if ANBU were about to surround them, and Ayame pulled a massive meat cleaver out of…somewhere…and hefted it up, ready to strike, they both doubled over laughing.

When she finally caught her breath Natsuko straightened up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm just joking!" She said with a chuckle. "We're here because the Hokage wants to talk to me."

The restaurant owners relaxed when they realized their surrogate family member wasn't in any danger and their attention was drawn to the young man that accompanied her.

"Who's this?" Asked Teuchi.

"Teuchi-ossan! Ayame-nee-chan! This is Naruto-kun, my boyfriend!" She said proudly, deciding to include the part about him also being her brother a once they'd got to know him better. "Naruto-kun this is Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku, the best ramen chefs in all the Elemental Nations!"

Naruto nodded politely and took the stool next to Natsuko as she sat down.

"I've heard quite a bit about you." He said to the two chefs. A smirk quirked the corner of his mouth and he nudged his sister playfully. "In fact, I think that by now half the ramen stands in the Elemental Nations have heard just how…inadequate…their fare is compared to the greatness of Ichiraku Ramen."

Natsuko dipped her head to try and hide her blush, drawing laughs from the other three. Then she remembered why she was here and looked up with determination and seriousness etched on her features.

"Enough of this! I'll have five miso ramen ossan, and the same for Naruto-kun, and keep 'em coming!"

"Hah! Let's see if you can break your thirty seven bowl record!" The male chef laughed as he went to prepare the order.

The two Uzumaki turned to watch as the brown haired waitress set some napkins and chopsticks in front of them.

"So…" Said Natsuko. "What's happened since I've been gone?"

Ayame leaned her elbows on the counter and propped her head on the butt of her palms.

"Not much really!" She grinned. "Nothing exciting happens when you're not here Natsuko-chan! Konoha hit some hard times when the people from the Countries you helped out on your missions found out about your banishment. They dissolved all the trade agreements, so Konoha lost all their premium discounts and prices soared. Things are only just starting to settle. Luckily we mostly do business with some of Tou-san's old friends, so we weren't hit too hard, but quite a few of the merchants went bankrupt." She leaned forwards a bit with a sly look on her face. "We even took the opportunity to make a bit of profit, our stock budget didn't change much but we sold at increased prices like everyone else. hmm…"

She drummed her fingers on her cheeks as she thought.

"Oh! That's right!" She exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "You know the Hokage's first apprentice right?"

Natsuko's eyes clouded over darkly at the mention of the busty woman but she hid it up fast enough that only Naruto noticed.

"Shizune?"

"That's the one! well… The day after you were banished they had a massive argument. You could hear the shouting from the other side of Konoha! Anyway! I don't know exactly what was said but from what I hear she was really pissed at what happened to you and she hasn't spoken a word to the Hokage since!"

Natsuko's eyes widened before she, once again, masked her emotions. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she was pleased at the possibility that Shizune had stood up for her. She had expected the medic kunoichi to follow Tsunade no matter what.

Naruto placed a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder.

"We can go and visit her tomorrow, ne? We'll sort things out then."

Teuchi called Ayame to help him bring out the ramen and Natsuko set about beating her childhood record with astonishing ease, Naruto just a few bowls behind her.

Thankfully, her manners had improved greatly over the years.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Jiraya and Kakashi walked into the Hokage's Office to find Tsunade and the Council Elders, Homura and Koharu, waiting for them.

"Jiraya? What's going on?" Tsunade asked with a frown. "Your team wasn't supposed to return until you found Natsuko."

"Oh we found her Tsu-hime. We even brought her back. But considering who she's been travelling with I thought it would be best to talk to you before you met them."

"What do you mean Jiraya-kun?" Koharu asked. "Who is she travelling with?"

Jiraya looked at his old team mate meaningfully.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Four sets of eyes starred at him blankly.

"Uzumaki who? Who the hell is…" Tsunade's eyes widened in recognition. "Kushina's boy?"

There was a silent pause as those present took in the information and tried to remember what few interactions they may have had with him.

"But…" Homura started. "I assumed he died during the Kyuubi attack. Where was he all these years? How have we not heard of him before?"

Jiraya shook his head in a mixture of weariness and worry.

"That's where things get bad. You see when Minato died sealing the fox he intended for Natsuko to be raised as a kunoichi of Konoha, unfortunately, after Kushina's death, I didn't think it likely that Naruto would have let that happen. Sarutobi-Sensei and I decided that it would be best if…well if he thought that she had died."

Tsunade paled.

"You staged her death?" She asked incredulously.

Jiraya winced.

"Well, not exactly. We used the Dead Clone Seal to create a corpse, he fled the village and…well we believed that he died when the Hunter-nin caught up to him."

He decided to leave out the Genjutsu they used to make sure he wanted to flee, it wasn't a necessary detail at the moment. With his sensei dead he was the only one alive that knew the full details of what happened, telling the others would just make things worse.

Tsunade's frown grew more pronounced as she tried to remember the boy. She hadn't been particularly close to Jiraya's student, and even less so to his wife. She had counted them as friends, but she didn't know much about their personal lives. She knew that Kushina's first son wasn't Minato's but other than that…nothing.

'Well, there was that one time when he asked me about the theory behind medical chakra but other than that I can't remember ever talking to him beyond simple hellos.'

"What happened then?" She asked in confusion. "He must have been…what? Eight years old, was he even a shinobi? More importantly how could the Hunter-nin be mistaken about his death?"

"They said the body was destroyed by jutsu damage." Jiraya explained, glad that blame wasn't being cast on him…yet. "There's no official report, Sensei and I thought it would be best if there wasn't one, but from what I can remember the hunter squad said he put up quite a fight and used more than one type of Elemental jutsu."

"Don't be ridiculous Jiraya-kun!" Koharu exclaimed angrily, going so far as to wag a wrinkled finger at him. "That would mean he was jounin level! Preposterous! Not even Kakashi-kun and Itachi were so advanced at such a young age."

"I agree!" Homura added. "If he truly was at such a level it wouldn't have gone unnoticed. The Hunters messed up no doubt, and created some story to cover their backs."

"It doesn't matter how strong he was then!" Jiraya interrupted before the old geezers could harp on anymore. "What matters is that he is strong now. I'm not sure just how strong, but he said that he was S-Ranked and I'm more than a little inclined to agree with him. It might be a good idea if we can find a way to get a more precise estimate of his skill."

"We'll organise a spar between the two of you." Koharu stated firmly. "We shall tell him that it's to evaluate what rank to give him when he reintegrates the Konoha forces."

Jiraya looked around the room, taking in the various expression on their faces. Kakashi had his face buried in his copy of Icha Icha. The Elders looked convinced in the effectiveness of their plan. Tsunade, he could tell, had her doubts.

"Just a moment." She said, lifting a palm up for emphasis. "If they've been travelling together then…Natsuko will already know about her heritage."

Once again silence reigned as they assimilated the information.

"It doesn't matter!" Homura said dismissively. "Even if she does know of her heritage, it will only increase her desire to return to the Leaf. All of the Namikaze heirlooms are in our possession, once she takes her place in the village she shall receive them."

Koharu nodded but a small frown appeared on her wrinkly forehead.

"Nonetheless it would be good to have an idea of her state of mind before she is brought before us. You should have your ANBU watch them closely Tsunade-chan, perhaps we will discover something of importance."

"They had an ANBU tail the moment they entered the village." Jiraya pointed out. "An ANBU squad may be able to hide from an average ninja but I doubt Naruto was fooled."

"Then have that squad pull away," The female Elder retorted. "Replace them with your best stealth operatives and put them under close surveillance. If you're right Jiraya-kun, and the boy really is as strong as you think, then we need to know as much as possible."

Jiraya was about to object when he remembered something that had puzzled him. Seeing his confused expression Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Jiraya?"

He looked up, matching gazes for a while before he sighed and shook his head again.

"Maybe it would be a good idea to watch them."

"Are you sure?" She asked in surprise. "After all if the ANBU are discovered it could create complications."

"I know, I know! But there's not much they can do even if they do find the ANBU. Having them watched may be frowned upon, but it is within your rights and they don't have enough political clout to make a fuss about it. It might make things a bit strained but…"

"But…?" She prompted as Koharu and Homura leaned in in interest.

"Well…the gaki was around eight when he left so now he should be, what? Twenty five…twenty six years old?"

"Get to the point Jiraya-kun!"

"Well that's just it! He doesn't look a day over nineteen!"

They all blinked, unsure of what to say.

With a sigh and a grumble, Tsunade pressed the button on the side of her desk. The intercom scratched a bit as the connection to her assistant activated.

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"Get me ANBUs Snake and Cat, I have a reconnaissance mission for them!"

0°0°0°0°0°0

LEMON WARNING: INCEST, EXHIBITIONISM (A/N: I don't know much about exhib. Other than the fact that it's in front of other people. I also have the constraint of having to keep it at least slightly realistic so there won't be any crazy sex on the Konoha main street. I thought of having them use a cloaking genjutsu but in the end I opted not to.)

After an enjoyable meal at Ichiraku Ramen, the two Uzumaki headed back to the Royal Leaf Hotel. As soon as the door to their suite closed behind them, Naruto lifted his sister up, grasping her round buttocks firmly in his strong hands as she curled her arms around his neck and her legs around his back.

"Rrrr…I've been waiting for this all day Onii-chan." She purred, nuzzling his neck as he carried her towards the bedroom.

Naruto chuckled and gave her ass cheeks a squeeze.

"Are you sure you cancelled this morning's transformation Natsu-chan?" He asked in a low, rumbling voice that sent shivers down her spine. "You're still being a bit of a kitten."

"Oh no! Onii-chan. Not a kitten," She whispered huskily as she moved her head up to his ear, punctuating each word with a soft lick as her hot breath washed over him. "A very…needy…pussy…"

This time it was Naruto's turn to shiver and his cock started to harden in anticipation.

When they entered the bedroom an 'out of place' scent reached her nose, making Natsuko skip a lick before she continued. The scent, or scents since there were two, were weak, very weak. It was only because of her very enhanced sense of smell that she detected them, which meant that a lot of effort had gone into eliminating them.

'There's one near each corner to the head of the bed. Sake, dango and…dried blood? Eew. The other…dango also, and sword maintenance oil.'

Naruto frowned when his lover's tongue skipped one of its licks. It wasn't a problem, but it was enough to alert him that there might be something wrong. He sent a small pulse of chakra, one that would go completely unnoticed in the large presence that he and Natsuko produced when they restrained but didn't mask their chakra. The echo told him that there were two ANBU, both female if their curves were anything to go by, standing hidden near the corners of the room.

He had to admit he was impressed. His senses weren't as developed as Natsuko's but they were better than most. The fact that the two uninvited females were able to hide from him meant that they must be the very best stealth experts in Konoha.

He took his hands off of Natsuko's rump so that she could get free and they could take care of the nuisances.

Natsuko, however, had a different idea.

When she felt her brother's hands leave her ass, Natsuko knew he had detected the intruders. From their scent she could tell that they didn't intend to attack, in fact they didn't even hold any animosity towards them. That ruled out the possibility of them being assassins so she guessed that they were spies.

'I guess I should give them something really good to spy on then.' She said to herself with a perverted giggle.

She tightened her legs' hold around her brother so that she wouldn't slip, making the leather of her above-knee-height kunoichi boots squeak as they rubbed together, and leaned back slightly. She saw him blink in surprise at her actions, but when their eyes met she easily conveyed not to do anything about their two extra room mates.

Without breaking eye contact Natsuko flipped off the shoulders of her trench coat and let it slide down her arms and fall to the floor. With her legs still securely wrapped around her brother, she slowly pulled off her tank top, dragging her firm breasts up with the momentum and leaving them to bounce enticingly when they were finally released.

She discarded the garment, dropping it next to her coat, with her gloves following soon after, and reached her hands down to Naruto's sides. She took his hands in her own smaller ones, pulled off his gloves, and brought his large, strong hands up to her round, fleshy mounds, moaning softly as he started to massage them.

Naruto bent his head forwards and took his sister's hard left nipple in his mouth, rolling and flicking it with his tongue. He removed his hands, momentarily stopping the breast massage he was giving her, so that she could take his trench coat from his shoulders. He let his katana fall to the floor with a clang and his coat to fall half way, folding in two as its descent was stopped by his sister's sexy legs.

He brought a hand back up to her left breast to continue the groping as he switched his mouth's attention to her right nipple. His other hand slithered around her waist and stroked her in loving, sensuous circles that made her back tingle.

Natsuko gripped the front of her brothers red and black top tightly in her fists as she felt her temperature rise. She moaned loudly in her throat, clenching and unclenching her legs repeatedly to show her approval. Wanting more she pulled her arms to each side, tearing the shirt in two and exposing his ripped pecs and abs. She caressed his muscular forms with her soft hands, trailing her fingers along the his chest.

Naruto pulled back up and sent another undetectable pulse of chakra. The two ANBU girls were still there, in fact it looked as if they had inched a little nearer. He smirked and walked up to the large king sized bed. He leaned over and gently placed Natsuko down.

Natsuko moaned as he lifted his head from her tingling bosom and sought out her mouth in a passionate kiss. She felt his hands run up her thighs and, taking the hint, released him from her grip. She met eyes with him shortly before he grinned and slid downwards, teasing her with soft kisses as he passed between her fleshy mounds and down her toned belly. He gripped the zipper of her tight leather shorts between his teeth and pulled it down ever so slowly. She writhed under the pressure of his chin, as it rubbed down the apex of her thighs, and the warmth of his palms, as they held her narrow waist.

She let out a small sigh as he gently pulled off both her shorts and her panties, exposing her clean shaved pussy and leaving her in nothing but her sexy footwear. The sigh turned into a pleasure induced whimper as he bent down and kissed her nether lips, his tongue darting out to tease the sensitive flesh. The whimper grew into a delighted moan as he nibbled tenderly on the small bud above her dampening slit and a finger curved its way into her moist folds.

She smirked as she smelt a scent of arousal that belonged to neither her nor Naruto. She had a good idea who one of the ANBU was from the reputation she had back when Natsuko was a Konoha kunoichi, but surprisingly it was the other one that seemed to be getting worked up.

The thoughts of her excited audience were driven from her mind as Naruto added another finger. He started thrusting them vigorously as he sucked up the juices she was starting to produce, swallowing the delicious liquid with lewd noises.

She pinched her nipples, rolling them between finger and thumb as she felt her first orgasm approach. Naruto pulled his fingers free and attacked her velvety pot with his tongue, using chakra to stretch it out and explore her vaginal folds. She closed her legs around her brother's head, pulling his mouth into her and moaning loudly as he hit all the right spots, discovered through countless sessions of steamy sex.

She felt herself tip over the edge and screamed as she release a flow of hot pussy nectar. Her eyes went wide when he showed two fingers in her ass, slick and coated in vaginal fluids they entered easily despite the heavenly tightness.

Naruto grinned, mentally patting himself on the back, as the flow of his sister's sweet juices turned into a veritable geyser. He swallowed eagerly, not letting a drop go to waste as he savoured her exquisite flavour. Eventually the flow subsided and her legs slackened enough for him to free himself.

Natsuko came back to her senses in time to see Naruto remove what was left of his torn muscle shirt. She grinned as her gaze followed the small trails of her pussy juices that dribbled down his chin, his neck and his muscle packed torso.

"You're such a messy drinker Onii-chan." She chided playfully as she turned on her hands and knees and crawled towards him.

Naruto's eyes homed in on her lower back and ass, tracking each exaggerated sway as if hypnotised.

"You…so much…" He muttered absently.

She smirked at how expertly she could enthral him and, slipping her delicate hands into his beltline, ripped his black combat pants clean off his legs.

Naruto yelped in surprise as the tearing fabric stung his legs. He silently cursed at himself for falling for her sexy little tricks yet again, even though he wouldn't have it any other way. He looked into her eyes, groaning deeply as her silk like hand grasped the base of his cock.

Natsuko grinned as she took hold of his monster meat, her hand not quite able to circle its impressive girth. The grin turned into a smirk when she heard two small, badly stifled gasps come from the peeping ANBU girls and the scent of arousal coming from them increase to full bloom. Looking up at her brother she saw a similar smirk on his face, telling her that he had also heard the small sounds.

Not feeling in a patient mood, and wanting to put on a good show, Natsuko pumped her lover's ten inches twice to make sure it was at full hardness before taking the fat tip into her mouth. With one, well-practiced, movement she lunged forwards, swallowing him to the base and pushing her nose into his pelvis. They both moaned as her throat was stretched to its limits, bulging obscenely around Naruto's cock.

Natsuko hummed softly, her lips quirking upwards in satisfaction when she felt two thick blobs of pre-cum dribble out in response. She kept humming as she bobbed her head back and forth, sliding her brother's thick pole in and out of her throat, drool coating it and giving it a shiny glow. Leaning on one hand, she brought the other up to massage his heavy sack, moaning all the louder as she felt the large quantities of seed stored inside.

Naruto grit his teeth as his sister worked on him, putting his focus into not blowing his load too soon. Even if his sense of hearing wasn't as developed as hers, he could still hear the soft panting coming from the two ANBU as their concentration slipped and their stealth diminished. Having his dick sucked in front of an audience, strangers at that, was oddly satisfying. Judging by Natsuko's enthusiastic bobbing, she was of the same opinion.

He tried to thrust forwards to meet her halfway, but grunted when the hand on his balls tightened uncomfortably, forcing him to stay put and let her have control. When her humming grew louder and the vibrations of her taught throat around his engorged cock increased, he couldn't find it in himself to complain.

It took less than five minutes for Natsuko's ministrations to push her brother past his limit. She slammed her face forwards as she felt his cock swell. With his cock lodged down her throat she opened her mouth as wide as she could and reached out with her tongue, sliding it under his balls and cupping them in the warm fleshy appendage sending a wave of heat into his loins.

Naruto howled in pleasure as he exploded, the heat of his lover's tongue making his seed's ejection all the more powerful. The sexy blonde haired Uzumaki didn't even have to work to swallow the thick cream as he was deep enough down her gullet that it sprayed straight down to her stomach.

Completely drained from the incredible climax, Naruto slumped back and fell on his butt, relishing the sloppy lick that cleaned the underside of his shaft as it dragged across Natsuko's wet tongue.

"Mmm…Tasty as always Onii-chan!" She cooed as she bent down, pressed her pursed lips to the tip of his cock, and sucked the last of his cream out of his canal.

Seeing that, despite his tiredness, Naruto was still as hard as ever, she grabbed his ankles and pulled him alongside her, not caring that she crumpled all the bed sheets in the process. She then straddled his waist in a reverse cow-girl position, her firm butt sitting on his ripped abs and her flat belly just inches from his upright erection.

She wriggled forwards, letting her pussy juices seep onto her brother, and stopped when his stiff meat pole was lying flat against her tummy, the bulbous cock-head nestling all the way up well above her belly button. She grinned widely as she heard the two ANBU girls gasp, stealth all but forgotten, as they admired the length of the throbbing tool. Natsuko closed her eyes and drew a deep breath through her nose, drinking in the scent of arousal that was coming from just feet away. She could hear as their breathing became laboured as they rubbed their thighs together, the fabric of their tight ANBU issued pants becoming damp and sticky as it soaked up the fluids from their overflowing pussies.

When Naruto finally recovered from his mind blowing orgasm, it was to find his sister's delicious rump resting on him with a small puddle of her juices building up between them. Naruto could feel the length of his shaft press against the soft skin of his sister's stomach and grinned at the reaction he was getting from the two spies.

He placed his hands on her hips, only to have her grab them in her own smaller ones and hold them tightly. She then lifted herself up, positioning her wanting lips above the fat tip of her man's tool, and slowly pushed down. Everyone held their breath as Natsuko's pussy stretched around her brother's girth, greedily gobbling it up and swallowing it into her velvety folds.

As soon as she reached the base of his pole, Natsuko lifted back up, rising more than half way, before slamming back down again. She established a frantic pace, sending the sound of slapping flesh echoing throughout the room. She closed her eyes and channelled chakra to her ears, increasing her already high level hearing.

She moaned in pleasure as she allowed the sounds to wash through her. The wet slap that accompanied the sudden stop to each downward thrust of her hips. The sloppy squelch as her clenching vaginal walls fought to keep his pulsing log inside each time she rose. The squeaking of the springs in the plush mattress as she bounced up and down with a vigour even high level ninja would be hard pressed to match. The increasingly loud pants of excitement coming from the side of the bed as the two ANBU girls felt their temperatures rise and their coils tighten. The rustling of damp fabric as one of them slipped a hand into her pants, and the wet slurp as she started to finger herself. And finally the rhythmic grunts and groans of pleasure from her brother as she literally fucked herself on his godly weapon.

Naruto held on to his sister's hands tightly as her moist inner walls started to convulse around his shaft. He grunted as he felt the stirring in his loins and pulled on Natsuko's hands so he could hold her to his chest as he came. Natsuko, however, caught herself before he could do so, propping her hands on his chest and leaning on them heavily as she arched her back like a contortionist. Unable to hold back any longer, Naruto thrust up and released his torrent of hot and sticky spunk, triggering his lover's orgasm as he flooded her womb with his warmth. They cried out together, riding the continuous waves of pleasure as best they could.

When she felt she had recovered enough, Natsuko shook the blissful cobwebs away so she could get right back to business. Still shivering from the afterglow, she got up on her knees, turned around and sat back down, impaling her ass on Naruto's well lubricated cock. She moaned as her cum filled cunt emptied some of its contents because of the pressure her brother's delicious log was putting on her bowels.

The corner of Natsuko's mouth quirked when she heard the 'sword oil' ANBU whimper pathetically and drop to her knees. She was surprised that the woman managed to keep her cloaking jutsu active. Turning her attention to the 'blood' ANBU, Natsuko sweat dropped at the sounds of fast paced masturbation, and marveled at the intensity of her orgasm that prevented her from noticing the noise before.

Pushing the useless thought aside, she started bouncing, smirking down at Naruto as each thrust caused another squirt of his thick spunk to splash from her abused pussy. She clenched her anal ring and rectal muscles as hard as she could, forcing a wince from him as it seemed like she was trying to crush his member.

The recent climax had left both Uzumaki's nerves extra sensitive that, coupled with the friction caused by the incredibly tight fit of Naruto's cock in his sister's rear as she grinded up and down his length, had them both grunting and groaning from the onslaught of pleasure. Natsuko set a slower pace as she rode his cock, focusing on her control of her intestinal muscles to make sure she never loosened up.

The extreme stimulation quickly brought them to the edge of their release. Natsuko's moaned ecstatically as her fluids and what was left of Naruto's cum flowed freely, covering her lover's stomach in a sticky white mess. Naruto, however, wasn't as fortunate. He could feel his large spunk load as it gathered at the base of his shaft, the pressure increasing progressively as the grinding of his sister's slick ass coaxed more and more from his balls, but the vice-like grip her anal walls had on him wouldn't allow the built up cream to go any further.

"Na…Natsu-chan!" He bit out between shuddering breaths. "I…need…to…cum…gaah!"

Naruto clawed at the bed sheets as he felt like he was about to explode.

"Beg for it Onii-chan!" She murmured, leaning forward so her face was hovering just over his and doing her best not to let her voice betray her own desire. "Beg for me to let you cum!"

Naruto grunted as his vision went blurry from the new and incredible torture his sister was putting him through. Had his mind been less clouded he would have seen the need, desire and lust filled desperation that Natsuko simply couldn't keep out of her sky-blue eyes.

"Please…Nat…s…suko…I…mot…ou-chaan!"

Natsuko grinned feebly in both victory and relief as he submitted, she didn't want to lose face but she wouldn't have been able to hold out much longer. She could feel the pressure building as his cock swelled against her tight walls, trying to stretch them wide enough to eject his seed. With the last of her strength she tightened her ass as much as she could, forcing the waiting load back down one last time, before she went limp, slumping on top of her brother's muscular chest and burying her head in his broad shoulder.

Naruto's eyes widened to dinner plates when the tightness of his love's ass around his cock suddenly dropped to bearable levels. It was still very tight, but by comparison it felt as if she wasn't even there. For a moment everything became shockingly clear as the sex-fog was wiped from his mind. Acting on pure instinct, Naruto threw his arms around his sister's back, pining her to him and smooching her glistening breasts against his chest.

Natsuko's mouth opened in a silent scream as her brother's cock seemed to expand, pushing her intestinal walls to their limits. She had never felt as…stuffed…as she did know. Added to the searing heat in her nether regions and her body was wracked with bliss induced convulsions. Her eyes widened when she felt the bulge shoot up Naruto's thick shaft as the pent up cream finally raced towards the exit, it exploded out with so much force that she was sure it was trying to force its way into her stomach.

She clawed at the sides of Naruto's chest as mammoth loads of semen were forced into her rectum. She could feel the sticky fluid try to squirt back out, only to be forced deeper in by the fat cock that completely blocked her rear entrance. She heard a thump and a moan as the 'blood, sake and dango' scented ANBU dropped to her knees in orgasm. And still her brother was pumping thick strands of semen into her bowels…it was becoming painful.

"Stop…Onii-chan!"

It wasn't and order, or a plea, but somewhere in between. Naruto immediately tightened his arms around her and tugged her up, sliding her glistening body further up his chest and pulling his cock from her ass with a lewd popping sound. Physically drained, he gave a mental laugh as both his pulsing cock and her gaping asshole sent jets of his hot cum spraying out.

Seeing an opportunity Naruto flipped them both over so that he was on top, nestled between his sister's perfect thighs with his slightly softened dick resting between her firms butt cheeks. He looked into her eyes and, seeing that she was slowly recovering, gave her an evil smirk that promised both pain and a lot of pleasure.

"That was a rather nasty thing you did Natsu-chan. Torturing me with your tight little ass like that! I think I'm going to have to punish you!"

LEMON END

0°0°0°0°0°0

"Sweet Kami! I thought they'd never stop!"

Cat slumped to the floor and leaned against the wall, shivering. She turned her head to the her right and looked at her partner, who was in a similarly frazzled state. The two ANBU had been forced to watch, front row seat, as their targets 'punished each other' throughout the night. It was now eleven in the morning and the Uzumaki duo had only just left their hotel room.

Snake pulled off her mask, revealing the flushed and sweaty face of Mitarashi Anko. The fact that she was still drooling would never be commented on.

"I know what you mean! they came back just before eleven last night, that's over twelve hours of non-stop hardcore sex!"

Cat pulled off her own mask, revealing herself to be Uzuki Yugao. She didn't bother commenting on the hysterical tone her partner's voice.

"I didn't think that was physically possible, even for shinobi. Did you see the size of his…?"

"He's a monster! How she can handle taking that, that…thing…in the ass, let alone getting ploughed in the ass…" Anko shuddered as an echo of Natsuko's blissful screams floated through her head.

"He didn't go soft! Not even once!"

"They didn't even stop in the shower!"

"They didn't even stop on the way to the shower for Kami sakes!"

"They could at least have closed the door!"

They both went silent, apart from their heavy breathing, as their minds kept replaying some of the 'best moments'.

Suddenly Yugao jumped to her feet.

"Crap! It's eleven!"

Anko looked up, annoyed by the disturbance now that she could finally get some rest.

"So?…"

"Anko we were supposed to report in at nine!"

"Crap!"

They both bustled about, getting themselves as presentable as possible and wondering if they could risk catching a shower and a change of clothes before they went to face the inevitable dressing down and probable demotion for their tardiness.

Anko froze.

"Um…Yugao-chan?"

"What!" The sword wielder bit out impatiently. "We haven't got time for this Anko!"

"I know! I know! But this is important!"

"What then?"

"How long have our cloaking jutsus been gone?…"

"…"

0°0°0°0°0°0

"You know…you're getting more and more kinky every day Natsuko-chan."

Natsuko leaned into her brother's side as they walked hand in hand to the Hokage Tower. An ANBU with a Tiger mask had been waiting in the lobby of the hotel to tell them that the Council was ready for them. They had picked a few pastries from the breakfast buffet and were now on their way.

As they walked she saw many of the villagers stop and stare at them. Word had obviously gotten out about her return to the village, whether that was the result of a fast working rumor mill or some sort of intimidation tactic, she didn't know and really didn't care.

She was a bit surprised that there hadn't yet been any mutterings of 'Demon brat'. In fact they seemed to be looking at her with varying degrees of surprise, and in the females' cases, envy. She shrugged it off. The inner workings of the minds of Konoha citizens were of little to no interest to her.

"Meh! You know you enjoyed it just as much as I did Naruto-kun."

She shot him a cheeky glance. Taking special note that he no longer looked as if he was on the verge of going on a killing spree.

"It certainly helped you relax."

"Tss…you hardly look stressed yourself."

"True. But I'm not being shy about it."

"Oh you certainly weren't shy about it. I'm willing to bet that those two can give a perfect description of your…"

He was cut off a small spike of chakra alerted them to an incoming Shushin and a moment later a bear and a rabbit masked ANBU appeared before them.

"Uzumaki-san, follow us. We will lead you to the Council Chambers."

The walk was short but they gathered quite a few looks from the administrative body. Soon they were walking into the last room, other than her apartment, that Natsuko had been in before her banishment.

She looked around, making a quick sweep of the room and taking in the faces. The Civilian Council was there, as was the Elder Council. The surprise came from the Shinobi Council and the fact that many of the Rookies were seated beside their clan head/parent. The exception being Sasuke who was there as head to the Uchiha clan. They were all sitting in designated places on a long semi-circular desk with two chairs placed in front where everyone could see. Finally Tsunade presided over the group, sitting at the 'head' of the table, with Jiraya standing a little behind her.

The two Uzumaki were directed toward the empty chairs before Tsunade leaned forward with a stern expression and rested her arms on the Council table. She was annoyed that Anko and Yugao hadn't reported in since she could have used whatever information they found during this meeting. The only reason she hadn't sent more ANBU to investigate was because Jiraya dissuaded her.

"Uzumaki Natsuko! Uzumaki Naruto! Do you know why you've been called to stand before this Council?"

They both raised an eyebrow in perfect synchronization.

"I believe you should rephrase that Tsunade-san." Naruto stated with a hard gaze. "We were not called to stand before your Council, we were asked to stand before it. You would do well to remember that neither Natsuko-chan, nor I, are under your command."

"It would also be best for all of us…" Natsuko shook her head. "I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. It would be best for you if you realized that I am not the same girl you used to walk all over three years ago."

The council members frowned but didn't respond. Many of them were slightly shocked at her calm confidence since they had been expecting the old Natsuko.

"You shall speak to this Council with respect Uzumaki-san!" Koharu said, frowning.

Naruto looked at her with a blank stare.

"There was no disrespect in her words Councilwoman. Just a simple statement. A reminder that she is no longer yours to command."

"What's wrong Dobe?" Sasuke glared at her with a sneer. "Still bitter about your banishment?"

Much to his anger Natsuko didn't even spare him a glance.

"Anyway!" Tsunade intervened before the situation could degenerate. "We asked you to be here so we can discuss your return to Konoha."

Natsuko sighed and shook her head.

"I suspected as much." A hollow laugh escaped her lips. "Do you actually believe that I will even consider returning to Konoha after my past experiences here."

"What about your dreams Gaki?" Jiraya piped up. "What about protecting your precious people and becoming Hokage?"

Natsuko looked at him in a way the practically screamed 'are you an idiot?'.

"My precious person is sitting right next to me Jiraya-san, and he is strong enough that he doesn't need my protection. As for becoming Hokage…is that some sort of joke?"

Thinking she had an opening, Tsunade gave one of her 'betting smiles', feeling certain that she could convince the girl to see things their way.

"Of course it isn't Natsuko! After all, how can you become Hokage if you don't come back to Konoha? And once we reveal your heritage I'm sure the entire village will recognize that you're a worthy candidate to Rokudaime Hokage."

Natsuko knew what she was getting at but decided to play dumb and see where things went. She had no intention of returning to Konoha no matter what they offered her, but that didn't mean that she couldn't make the most of the situation and trick them into giving it to her anyway. Hiding her smirk, she plastered a convincing puzzled expression on her face.

"My heritage? How does my being the daughter of Uzumaki Kushina put me in a position of being Candidate Hokage?"

The Godaime blinked in surprise and leaned back in her chair. She exchanged a few meaningful glances with Jiraya and the Elders before peering back at Natsuko.

"I'm surprised Naruto didn't tell you." She said, sounding for all the world as if that had been her plan all along. "Your real name isn't Uzumaki. You are Namikaze Natsuko, daughter of Namikaze Minato the Yondaime Hokage."

Her announcement was followed by a moment of silence before the Council erupted into loud murmurs.

Looking around at the unruly group, Naruto categorised the reactions.

The Civilian Council was in uproar, half of them had reverted to claiming that the Demon was trying to fool them, and the other half was praising the return of the Namikaze.

The Shinobi Council was more composed. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Inuzuka Tsume, as well as their children, were having a fast paced whispered conversation. The Hyuuga and Aburame kept both their composure and their silence, but Hiashi's eyes had a calculating gleam to them. Sasuke was seething, his deluded mind outraged at the possibility of someone being as special as him…an Uchiha.

Danzo was skulking in his corner with no visible reaction other than his usual 'plotting face'.

The only ones who didn't seem at all affected by the revelation were Jiraya, Tsunade, Koharu and Homura. Naruto assumed that they, and probably Danzo, were the only ones who had known about his sister's father, and Danzo hadn't been told that it would be revealed.

When the noise finally calmed down Natsuko took her chance to speak.

"I am aware of my birth father's name, Hokage-san. Naruto-kun told me when we met shortly after my banishment. I was quite surprised to learn that Jiraya, the Sandaime and yourself had hidden my origins from me."

Jiraya looked at her pleadingly.

"You have to understand Gaki! Your father made a lot of enemies, it wouldn't have been safe to let people know that you were his daughter."

"And my mother? Why was I never told of her?"

"It would have led to awkward questions and some people knew that they were in a relationship so they would have connected the dots."

"I see…"

Silence descended on the room. The two Uzumaki waited, not wanting to make this easier for them by initiating the conversation.

Koharu grew tired of the wait and cleared her throat.

"Now! Since we've cleared that up, I think the Council would like to hear of your time outside the Village walls. Specifically: where you were hidden, what training you may have received, and the details surrounding the deaths of Sasori and Deidara of the Akatsuki."

A frown marred Natsuko's pretty features.

"As I've already said, I no longer answer to this Council or to this village's Kage. Where I have been and what I've been trained in is nobody's business but my own. Naruto-kun and I are only here because we do not wish to seem ungrateful of Fire Daimyo-sama's pardon."

Koharu was about to retort when she was stopped by Tsunade lifting a hand. The blonde Kage then looked at Natsuko with a small smirk.

"Now Gaki, don't be like that! If you don't tell us what you've been up to we won't be able to assign you the proper rank and you'll have to go back to being Genin."

Natsuko sighed.

"You're assuming that I want to be assigned a rank. I've already told you that I don't intend to rejoin Konoha. The village has nothing to offer and any sense of duty I once had for the Leaf has long since faded."

Surprisingly Tsunade's smirk didn't fade.

"Ahh! But if you aren't a kunoichi of Konoha you won't be able to get you heritage. You father created some very powerful jutsu but you'll have to earn them first."

Jiraya also felt his lips twitch in amusement. His old team mate was playing on the girl's love for powerful jutsu to get her back in Konoha. It may be a bit underhanded, but they would make it up to her when she settled in.

'…This may just be one bet that she wins!'

Their smirks faded when Natsuko grinned right back.

"Powerful techniques huh? Do you mean like this one?" She casually created a perfect Rasengan on the tip of her right index finger and waved it about a bit before letting it dissipate. Her grin turned more predatory, making Naruto chuckle softly as he guessed what she was going to do next. "Or maybe you meant this one?" She flicked her wrist slightly and a Hiraishin Kunai appeared in her hands, without any smoke or a pop to signal its unsealing.

The entire room gaped as she spun the Tri Pronged Kunai on her finger while giving a cheeky smile.

"W-what…h-how?" Jiraya sputtered. "How did you make that?"

Natsuko sighed. She had been doing that a lot lately.

"I've said it a thousand times already but I'll say it again, 'I don't have to answer'." She stopped spinning the kunai and with another flick of the wrist it vanished. "As you can see I already know Minato's powerful jutsu, so if it's that's the only reason you can give me for coming back to Konoha…"

She trailed off but her meaning was clear.

The entire Council was silent, even the civilians. They all realized just how powerful she had become. For the civilians it was mostly because of the awe that the Hiraishin inspired. For the ninja however, even the younger ones, it was because of the knowledge of just how deadly the technique could be. Some of them had been witness to the crushing defeat of Iwa's army at the hands of the creator of the jutsu, so they knew that even on the off chance that the rest of Natsuko's skills were abysmal, Hiraishin alone could cause incredible damage.

Naruto smirked as he saw a good opportunity.

"Maybe we can have a little bet?"

Chapter 07: Konoha Winnings.

"You were supposed to report in at nine! That was over three and a half hours ago! You had better have a decent explanation!"

Tsunade's voice boomed in her office as she punctuated her words by slamming her hands on her desk, making a large crack appear on the surface despite the presence of Jiraya's high quality strengthening seals.

In front of her, two kneeling females cowered in fear, their ANBU masks placed on the floor in front of them. The significance of this would be lost on a civilian, as well as on many lower ranking ninja. Being selected as ANBU was considered an honour, the mask symbolised their devotion. It showed that they were willing to give up their own lives, their own faces, to serve the village. For the Hokage to order them to remove their masks meant that they had, in layman's terms, royally fucked up. And that they would probably be facing demotion and possibly even suspension.

After fixing themselves up, Yugao and Anko had decided that it was best to face the music and go straight to the Hokage's office. That thought had lived a short life since, the moment they got out of the suite in the Royal Leaf Hotel, they found out that they positively…absolutely…reeked of sex. Inside the suite, everything had been imbued with the smell, so they hadn't really noticed. But when they stepped into the fresh midmorning air the scent was almost suffocating.

Needless to say, they weren't going to give their report smelling like walking whorehouses.

By the time they had showered, and showered again just to make sure all the smell was gone, gotten a change of clothes and finally reached the Hokage's Tower, the Council meeting had been well underway. They had waited nervously for their leader to return to her office, all the while imagining the various possible outcomes.

The common phrase is that 'the wait is the hardest part'. When the one you're waiting for can make earthquakes with a simple punch and has a notoriously short temper however, common phrases go right out the window.

"Well? What the hell do you have to say for yourselves?"

Forcing her nerves aside, Anko glanced up at Tsunade's angry red face.

"Sorry Boss-Lady I-I mean Ho-Hokage-sama!" She stutter when a blast of Killing Intent washed over her. "We c-came as s-soon as we c-could! But it we c-couldn't g-get away without c-compromising ourselves."

Fortunately for them that calmed Tsunade down, if only enough for her to let them explain without being subjected to large amounts of killing intent. It wasn't uncommon for stealth missions to be prolonged for one reason or another. It was rather odd for it to happen in her own village, but she decided to wait before judging.

"Very well, explain!"

This time it was Yugao who lifted her head.

"Hokage-sama, after you gave us our assignment we sought out the previous surveillance squad. We found them watching the targets as they ate at the Ichiraku Ramen bar. When we asked for a report they informed us that they had taken the Luxury Suite at the Royal Leaf Hotel. From there we decided that the best course of action was to let the previous squad maintain surveillance while we posted ourselves inside their suite. We have used this method before when a close watch was required and we were confident of our skill."

Tsunade nodded dismissively. She knew very well that the two in front of her were extremely gifted in stealth. They were the only ones who could fool even the best Inuzuka noses, chakra Sensors, and many other types of detection ninja. She had no doubt that they could stand in front of their target and not be noticed.

"We were both stationed in their bedroom, having assumed that that would be the best place to observe any potentially informative interactions. The targets returned to their room at 10:47 last night and proceeded to engage in…ahem…sexual intercourse."

Yugao paused, which was fortunate since Tsunade's mind had temporarily shut down. She blinked, opened her mouth, blinked, closed her mouth, and blinked again.

"What?"

This seemed to be the cue Anko needed to return to her usual boisterous behavior.

"I know, right? I mean…they're brother and sister right? I mean…I know that those Uchiha fagots did that sort of thing! And the Hyuuga would probably fuck their own mothers if it helped keep their bloodline! But…damn! They were fucking like rabbits…horny rabbits mind you…for twelve hours straight! People call me sex crazed but…fuck! Yugao! Tell her about the size of his cock! He's a fucking monster! He didn't go soft, not once in twelve hours! That half a day for Kami sakes! With the amount of cum he pumped into her I'm surprised she hasn't given birth alre…"

"Anko!"

The spiky haired kunoichi blinked at the interruption to her ramblings, and blushed when she saw the Hokage staring at her.

"Let me get this straight…" Tsunade said, rubbing the bridge of her nose and reaching into a desk drawer for a much needed bottle of sake. She decided to skip the part about them having sex, incestuous sex, she'd think about that later. "…you were forced to stay because you didn't want to risk drawing their attention?"

"Hai! Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade sighed and easily drained the bottle of alcohol. She carelessly chucked empty container into the rubbish bin where it joined a good dozen more. The aging woman felt a sharp pang at the sight, it was evidence of her broken relationship with her first apprentice. It had always been Shizune that prevented her from going over the top with her sake consumption. Now that she was gone…

The blonde Kage shook the depressing thoughts away and looked back at her kneeling subordinates.

"You're sure that you weren't detected? I don't doubt your skill, but twelve hours is a long time, even for you."

At this point the two women had a choice. As ANBU they had a duty to not lie to their leader, doing so was tantamount to treason, something neither of them wanted. On the other hand she was just finally calming down, telling her that they had both been so entranced by the crazy sex that they had, at some unknown moment, completely dropped their cloaking jutsu would probably lead to a fate that neither of them wanted to contemplate.

"They gave no indication that they were aware of our presence Hokage-sama," Yugao said, making sure not to lie but treading carefully around the truth. "And considering how…absorbed…they were in their activities…"

Tsunade nodded tiredly, missing the small sighs of relief from her kunoichi.

"Alright! Alright! Did you find out anything useful?"

Anko and Yugao shared a glance.

"Sorry Boss-Lady! Apart from their crazy stamina there wasn't really anything…"

"Actually…" Yugao interrupted. "I did notice something." She paused to make sure she had the Hokage's attention. "The other ANBU units may have already reported this, since the clothes she was wearing exposed her midriff, but at no point did I see the Kyuubi's Seal."

Tsunade's eyes widened. The seal was always visible, for the simple reason that it was always drawing youki from the beast and into the vessel. She may not be a seal master but she did have a good understanding of seals, and she knew that if Natsuko's seal was no longer visible then someone had been tampering with it.

"But that's not all!" Tsunade looked back to Yugao as she continued. "I noticed that the male target did have a seal on his stomach and one on his chest just above his heart. I don't know if it's the same as the one that holds the Nine Tails, but it was shaped like a swirl. I recognized the one above his heart as a high quality blood protected storage seal."

"They both had a seal on their left forearms as well." Anko added. "It looked like a plain circle but there were numbers in them. The fox kid had a number 74, and the guy…Naruto I think his name was…had a number 99."

Tsunade frowned in though. She'd have to talk to Jiraya, he would have a better idea of what the seals, and absence of seals, could mean.

"Right! Was there anything else?"

There was a pause as the ANBU thought back on any details they could have missed.

"Um…" Anko's brow creased hesitantly. "I know it was just a rumour, but I heard that you gave the Shodaime's necklace to the brat and that she wore it around her neck, but I don't remember seeing it."

Tsunade flinched imperceptibly, her hand drifting towards her ample chest before she caught herself and placed it back on the desk.

"The rumour was just that, a rumour! Was there anything else?" she asked a bit snappishly.

They both shook their heads.

"No! Hokage-sama"

"In that case you're both dismissed. I'll have a regular team follow them from now on."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

As her two female ANBU left the room, Tsunade pushed the inter-com button and asked her assistant to have someone locate Jiraya and tell him to report to her office.

Now alone, she brought her hand up to her chest and pulled out her grandfather's necklace. Natsuko had given, or rather thrown, it back to her as they left the Council Chambers. It had been a heavy emotional blow for the last member of the Senju line. Giving back the necklace was essentially Natsuko's way of saying that she had given up on becoming Hokage. True, she had said as much during the meeting with the Council but, for Tsunade and Jiraya, giving back the necklace was much more symbolic. It was a way of showing that all the promises, all the dreams, and all the ties she once had to Konoha were gone.

She felt tears prickle in her eyes but ruthlessly pushed them away. She may regret letting the Council sway her into agreeing with Natsuko's banishment, but she was still convinced that it had been the right decision. Tsunade had always intended for her to be brought back to Konoha, which was why she had planned to have Jiraya's informants keep an eye on her. She had never even considered that Natsuko might not want to come back.

She shook her head and fished out another bottle of sake.

'It doesn't matter! She'll be coming back to Konoha one way or another. With any luck this will all be sorted out with the fight tomorrow.' She said to herself. She paled slightly when a thought came to mind. 'There is no way that damned pervert can find out about their relationship! He'll be all giggly for hours on end!'

She filled a saucer with sake as she thought about the unexpected discovery. She had noticed that Natsuko and her brother seemed quite close, but she hadn't thought much into it. That they were romantically involved wasn't something that could help her in convincing them to return.

'It doesn't really matter anyway, it's not like incest is illegal. Civilians may make an issue of it but none of the clans will, most Kekkai Genki would have gone extinct by now if it wasn't for at least some degree of inbreeding.'

She sighed.

After the meeting she had come straight to her office so that she could think things through. Finding Yugao and Anko waiting to give their report had put a delay to that, but now that she was alone she could think back to what had happened. In hindsight, the meeting itself had been shockingly unrewarding. Usually the Council stuck to their objective and bullied their way along until they either got what they wanted or she put her foot down. The Uzumaki duo had managed to keep them off balance and a lot of the underhand tactics she expected from the Elders and Civilians weren't even attempted.

It was an impressive display of political savvy and she wasn't even sure if it had been intentional.

She sighed again and rubbed her temples in small relaxing circles.

"Careful Tsu-hime, you're starting to look your age."

She looked up to see Jiraya come in through the window and scowled at him.

"Took your time you damn pervert!"

He shrugged absently.

"I was doing some important research. What did you want?"

The Godaime poured herself some more sake and started telling her old team mate what she'd just learnt…minus the sex part.

She really didn't want to deal with his perverted giggles.

0°0°0°0°0°0

After the Council meeting the two Uzumaki headed to Ichiraku Ramen for a quick, but very tasty lunch before heading back to their hotel room.

As they got near, once again walking hand in hand and pretending not to notice the ANBU squad tailing them, Natsuko broke the comfortable silence.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Naruto-kun? The fight I mean."

Naruto smiled at her reassuringly and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Of course it is Natsuko-chan." He said with certainty. "You've already given Tsunade her necklace back, this will give us a chance to mess with Jiraya and the Uchiha. Just remember not to go all out, we don't want to cause any permanent damage at this point."

Natsuko sighed but nodded in agreement. She couldn't deny that she was looking forward to humiliating the teme. As they reached the entrance to the Royal Leaf Hotel she thought back to the deal Naruto managed to make.

0°0°0 FLASHBACK 0°0°0

"Maybe we can have a little bet?"

Natsuko almost burst out laughing at the effect her brother's words had. The majority of the Council was dumbstruck at the odd proposition, stuck between wondering if he was a fool or if they had heard wrong. Tsunade on the other hand seemed to glow with new life, her eyes alight with unholy interest.

It was fairly common knowledge that almost all shinobi had some sort of obsession or habit. Some were obvious, others were well hidden, but almost everyone had one. The main theory was that it developed as a method to cope with the harsh reality that was the life of a ninja, to deal with the questionable choices and horrifying sights the shinobi lifestyle inevitably lead to. Most ninja were smart enough to understand that it could be a weakness, and took steps to control their tendencies.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one's point of view, Tsunade hadn't. She had wallowed in her own self-pity and indulged in her own addictions for so long that she no longer considered the problems that could come from them. That was perhaps a harsh and somewhat exaggerated way to put it, but it was also true. It was her addiction to gambling and games of chance that led her to squandering the accumulated and considerable wealth of the Senju Clan, to 'loosing' her grandfather's priceless necklace, and even to her taking the position of Godaime Hokage.

Naruto had played on that addiction, without even bothering about being discreet about it, and she fell for it hook, line and sinker.

"What sort of bet are you proposing?" Tsunade asked with interest.

Naruto stroked his chin in an exaggerated thinking pose. He knew he couldn't push too far. He had to make an offer that seemed to be at least slightly in their favour, but also make it hard, if not impossible to refuse.

Luckily the law was in their favour.

"We all know that Namikaze isn't a clan name and it isn't tied to the Konoha Charter. As such Natsuko-chan's inheritance can't legally be withheld from her without the Daimyo's ruling. I think that is something we would all like to avoid." He paused to let his words sink in. He allowed himself a small smirk when he saw some of them realise whose favour that scenario would go in. "Nonetheless we are aware that the Namikaze name is important for Konoha, so this is what I suggest. Two friendly spars, Natsuko-chan and I against two ninja of your choice. If you win both matches, we return to Konoha, if we each win a match nothing changes, and if Natsuko-chan and I both win our matches she receives her inheritance without either of us returning to Konoha." He looked directly at the Hokage. "I think the terms are reasonable, what do you say?"

Before anyone could object Tsunade stood up enthusiastically and slapped her palms on the table, thankfully without her super strength.

"Agreed! We'll set the fights for tomorrow at nine in the morning at the stadium. There will be no time limits and the fight ends when one of the contestants forfeits or is no longer able to fight."

Natsuko shared a look with her brother and they both nodded.

"Agreed!"

'Hook, line and sinker.'

0°0°0 FLASHBACK END 0°0°0

"Natsuko-chan!"

The Uzumaki spun around when a female voice rang across the Hotel lobby. There, panting slightly as she leaned against the open doorway, was a rather flushed looking Shizune. Her hospital uniform crumpled from her run across the village. As soon as she caught her breath she headed towards them with a wide smile on her face.

"Natsuko-chan! I heard you were back but I didn't believe it!"

"Shizune-nee…" Natsuko smiled hesitantly. Despite what the Ichiraku said she was still a bit weary, after all Shizune had always been very loyal to Tsunade.

Seeing his sister's discomfort Naruto stepped in.

"Ah, Shizune-san. Natsuko-chan told me a bit about you. We just got back from a rather tedious meeting with the Council and we're going to rest in our room, would you like to join us? I'm sure the two of you can catch up once we're all comfortable."

Eager to get a chance to talk to the girl, now a young woman, who's spirit she came to admire, Shizune freely followed them to their suite.

'Crap!' Naruto thought as they reached the door. 'We forgot to air the room when we left…it probably reeks of stale sex…'

With a self-depreciative sigh, Naruto cracked the door open and flicked his wrist, creating a controlled wind current that funneled the smell away and refreshed the air in the room. He sniffed discreetly, to make sure the room smelt alright, before holding the door open for the ladies.

"Thanks Naruto-kun."

"Thank you Naruto-san."

He followed them in and they all took a comfortable seat. An uncomfortable silence descended on them as they each waited for someone else to speak first.

"Would you like some tea Shizune-san?" Naruto asked, remembering his manners. A long time with very little company had dulled them through lack of practice, but they were still there.

Shizune nodded thankfully.

"Thank you that would be nice Naruto-san."

The medic-nin frowned a bit as he got up and left for the kitchenette. She didn't know who Natsuko's companion was, only having picked up his name because Natsuko said it first, but she had the strange feeling that she had met him before.

"So…" Natsuko interrupted her musings. "Teuchi-ossan and Ayame-neechan said that you often ate at their place…"

It was a statement, but the dark haired woman could clearly detect the underlying question. She sighed and looked her 'little sister' in the eyes.

"Yeah, they were probably the only people who outwardly disagreed with the decision to banish you." She grimaced a little before carrying on. "Did you know that they even went so far as to refuse to serve Tsunade when she tried to go for some ramen?"

Natsuko's eyes widened in shock.

"Are they crazy! Refusing the Hokage!"

Shizune's head bobbed up and down empathetically.

"Yeah I know, they're lucky that they weren't arrested. There are laws that protect them, but given the circumstances I doubt that the council would have made a fuss about it." She let out a small laugh. "I think Tsunade was too shocked to do anything!"

The blonde Uzumaki smirked as she pictured Tsunade's stunned face at being refused service in her own village.

"Speaking of Tsunade," She said with a slight narrowing of her eyes. "I'm surprised that you don't agree with her. Sorry if I'm a bit skeptical but you've never really gone against her before, even if you didn't like some of her choices."

Shizune flinched at the suspicious tone but couldn't deny the truth. Before they met Natsuko, she wouldn't even had thought of disagreeing with her mentor.

Cutting ties with Tsunade, the last link she had to her uncle Dan, had by no means been an easy thing to do. Even now, more than three years later, she would sometimes wake up in the morning and start planning for her ex-master's day, or find herself halfway to the Hokage Tower to do her assistant duties.

The day that she had split paths with Tsunade had brought an unpleasant revelation. Shizune had always known that her friend took the sacrifices and efforts she made for her somewhat for granted. But seeing the pure shock and disbelief on the woman's face when she spoke against her had said volumes. It was obvious that Tsunade hadn't even considered that she might not agree with her decision, expecting her to follow obediently no matter what.

She looked into Natsuko's eyes with a steely determination.

"There's a big difference between drinking too much sake or gambling off too much money and betraying a friend for something they didn't do." She said with a conviction that told Natsuko she wasn't lying. "I didn't even believe it until Tsunade told me herself."

Natsuko frowned in concentration as she thought back to that day.

"You weren't at the Council meeting were you?" She said slowly. "The one where they banished me."

"No," Shizune answered, shaking her head in agreement as she spoke. "You remember that Neji, Chouji, and Kiba had been wounded during the retrieval mission? And Lee shouldn't have gone anyway since he was still recuperating from the operation on his leg. So when Tsunade was called to the Council meeting, I stayed to keep an eye on them. On top of that it was still quite soon after the Sand/Sound invasion, shinobi were being sent on more missions to keep the village's image up, so there were more wounded coming in that needed to be taken care of. By the time I got off shift and out of the hospital I went straight to bed to catch up on lost sleep. After that I went back to the hospital, again. It was only then that I started to hear the rumors and people celebrating your banishment and, honestly, I completely discarded them. As far as I was concerned it was just stupid rumors because Tsunade would never allow you to be banished." She took a long, deep breath. "It was almost a week later that I actually learnt that the rumors were true. I thought of trying to find you but…where would I even start looking?"

Natsuko let out a relieved sigh and moved over to Shizune's chair, pulling her into an affectionate hug. She was comfortable enough with her heightened senses that she could use them to detect most lies, and she could tell that the older woman was being sincere.

"Well it's nice to see someone in Konoha isn't a dick. No offence." Naruto said humorously as he set down the tray, with tea pot and cups, a small table. "So Shizune-san, how do you take your tea?"

0°0°0°0°0°0

Later that night , as the sun was beginning to set, Naruto left the two women to their catching up and headed towards Ichiraku Ramen. He came back a half hour later with the two ramen chefs, having invited them to diner. Ayame immediately went over to join the other two girls while Naruto and Teuchi went to the suite's small kitchen.

"You don't have to help me Teuchi-san, you should relax a bit. I didn't invite you just to make you cook you own meal." Naruto said over his shoulder as he rummaged through the small fridge to see what was provided. He clucked his tongue in disappointment at the poor results his search yielded and unsealed some 'decent' ingredients from one of his scrolls.

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This is a high class hotel, people who come here probably go to the restaurant to eat, or call room service.'

The old ramen chef chuckled and tilted his head towards the entranceway where the three women were just visible.

"I'd rather spent the night cooking than sitting down listening to 'girl talk'."

"We heard that!" Three indignant female voices exclaimed, making the two men stifle their laughter less they be subjected to their wrath.

With a pulse of chakra Naruto pressed his hand to the wall and a plain wooden door appeared, blocking the two groups from each other so they could converse with some privacy. A sad smile stretched his lips as he turned back to the ingredients and started preparing them.

"Are you alright son?" Teuchi asked in concern, absently joining in the preparations with a skill born from years of practice. "You look a bit down on yourself."

Naruto shook his head dismissively.

"Nah…it's just…seeing Natsuko-chan back there, laughing with her friends and all that… It makes me realise that I've pretty much been her only company for three, going on four, years. I'm quite proud to say that I've given her all the things that Konoha failed to, but…seeing how she acts with you and Ayame-san, and now Shizune-san…it makes me realise that I've also inadvertently taken away the one thing Konoha did give her. I've been alone for so long that I really don't care about people in general. But Natsuko-chan…she loves seeing new faces and making new friends, something that she hasn't been able to do during her time with me."

Teuchi felt his appreciation for the young man soar. He had already liked him well enough, seeing how happy he made Natsuko had assured that, but the boy's words showed the ramen chef that he actually deserved to be with her.

He clapped him on the shoulder and turned back to cutting carrots.

"Don't be so hard on yourself! I've known Natsuko for longer than you. I've seen her cry when parents told their kids not to play with her. I've seen her laugh as she was chased by hoards of ninja for painting the faces of the Hokage Monument. I've seen her smile as she inhales bowl after bowl of ramen. I won't deny what you said, but I can honestly say that I've never seen her happier than when she's by your side."

Despite himself Naruto felt a wide smile creep onto his face at the reassuring words. He looked over at the older man as he took a clean knife and started slicing the meat into thin ribbons.

"Thanks for that. Given how highly she speaks of you it means a lot." His smile turned to an amused grin. "But seriously? '…I've never seen her happier than when she's by your side'? are you a secret romance novelist or something?" He asked with laughter in his voice, which only increased as a small blush covered the man's cheeks.

0°0°0°0°0°0

"Well they sound like they're having fun." Ayame said with a raised brow as the three girls heard laughter coming through the makeshift door. She then turned to Natsuko with a sly grin on her face. "So… now that we've got some privacy… what's Naruto-kun like in bed?"

Natsuko choked and spluttered in surprise at the unexpected question. Shizune turned cherry red and slapped the ramen waitress' arm reproachfully.

"Ayame!" She exclaimed in a scandalized tone. "Don't ask questions like that!"

"Why not?" She replied unrepentantly. "It's not as if either of us is 'getting any'. Since Natsuko-chan's the only one with a boyfriend we'll have to live through her."

They glared at each other until Shizune let her shoulders drop on defeat and they both turned to their blonde haired friend.

Natsuko blinked owlishly and a deep blush slowly crept its way onto her face. She opened and shut her mouth a few times before she finally found her voice.

"You want me to tell you about…our sex life?" She asked uncertainly.

She wasn't shy about what she and Naruto got up to together. Her little exhibitionist streak the previous night was proof of that. But having sex in front of two near-strangers that she would probably never see again was entirely different from telling some of her best friends about what she liked her lover to do to her.

On the other hand, a part of her found the idea rather appealing. The thought of bragging about all the perverted things she had coaxed her brother into trying…

"And don't leave anything out!" Ayame said with a firm nod. "We want details girl!"

Natsuko looked at the two women and licked her lips slowly, making them shift forwards eagerly, hanging off the edges of their seats. This was going to be so much fun!

"Well. Our first time together was on my sixteenth birthday. Naruto-kun had taken me to one of his special safe-houses so that we could relax and he had prepared a special seal that partially stopped our healing factors so that we could have some sake. He said that since we were celebrating my becoming an adult we would get piss drunk…"

When Teuchi, Naruto and a bunch of clones came out of the kitchen carrying platters of a variety of delicious smelling foods. They were treated to the sight of three giggling females huddled together on the sofa having a whispered and, if their blushes were anything to judge by, embracing conversation.

"What are you girls up to?" Teuchi asked as he put the food down.

Naruto, who was directing his clones as they arranged the table, felt a chill run down his spine as all three girls turned, looked at his face, and, in perfect synchronization, dropped their eyes to his…mid-section. They blushed. Heavily.

"Hey! Are you girls alright?" Teuchi asked, oblivious to the byplay.

"Yeah, we're fine Tou-san." Ayame said a little too quickly, making his eyes narrow in suspicion.

"We were just talking about…um…something good to eat." Natsuko supplied helpfully. Her eyes glazed over as she considered her words. "Something really good to eat…"

Ayame and Shizune dissolved into fit of giggles while throwing another 'discreet' glance at Naruto.

When they calmed down everyone sat to eat, making casual conversation in between mouthfuls. The warm atmosphere reminded Naruto of the times he spent with his mother before her untimely demise. He smiled when he saw Natsuko happily interacting with the others and decided that now was a good time to make his offer.

He subtly put up a privacy barrier, just in case some of Konoha's surveillance methods had slipped by him, and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Teuchi-san, Ayame-san, Shizune-san, we have an offer for you." He paused and shared a look with Natsuko who's eyes widened when she understood what he was talking about and nodded once a little hesitantly for him to proceed.

"Natsuko-chan and I have decided to rebuild Uzugakure. The village itself is already prepared, needing only the final, more personal, touches to reach completion. We've sent invitations to what's left of the old Uzu clans. They may not have any notable Bloodlines or have very large numbers, but they have produced many generations of skilled ninja. We're going to visit all the places that Natsuko-chan helped during her time in Konoha and offer them alliances. Both trade and military. So far we've only been to the Land of Waves but they seemed quite pleased with the idea."

He paused to let his words sink in and, after sharing another look with Natsuko, he sat back to let her continue.

"What we'd like," She said nervously. "Is for you to leave Konoha with us and become citizens of new Uzugakure. For you, Teuchi-ossan and Ayame-neechan, business might be a bit slow before the village population grows a bit, but there are plenty of resources so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. And I'll make sure to build you the best Ramen Bar you can imagine." She said with a winning smile and a thumbs up that made them grin back at her despite their shock at the unexpected offer.

"As for you Shizune-nee-chan, you can head the hospital if you'd like. Or help train new medic-nin. or…whatever you want really."

There was silence for a few moments. Teuchi and Ayame looked at each other, communicating silently. They both nodded in agreement.

"We accept." They said in unison. Teuchi continued. "Life hasn't been so bad for us here in Konoha, but it hasn't been particularly good either. I think the change could make a nice difference."

Natsuko squealed happily and jumped over the table, pulling them both into a tight hug. When they calmed down and separated everyone looked at Shizune for her answer, only to find her with her head down and shoulders slumped in defeat.

Natsuko walked over to her, worried, and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Shizune-nee-chan? What's wrong?" She asked. "If you don't want to come, that's OK. We won't mind and you can still visit us."

The dark haired woman shook her head and looked up, her eyes glistening as she struggled to hold back her tears.

"It's not that I don't want to come with you. But I can't. I'm still a kunoichi of Konoha. The only way for me to come would be for me to retire, and to do that I would need the Hokage's approval. Considering that I'm the second best medic in the village I doubt that she would let me go. Especially since we're not even on talking terms anymore. And even if she did, the Council would block her right away…"

"Shit! We should have thought about that before!" Natsuko swore loudly. "We could have added that to the bet."

Everyone but Naruto stared at her questioningly.

"Bet?"

"Tomorrow morning, Naruto-kun and I will each fight a spar against two of Tsunade's ninja. If they win both fights we stay here. If we win on fight and they win the other we leave. And if we win both fights we leave and I get the Namikaze inheritance scroll." She blew out a heavy, frustrated breath. "We should have added Shizune's retirement."

A cough from Naruto made them snap their heads around to face him.

"Actually I don't think that's necessary."

Shizune frowned questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

Rather than answering Naruto asked another question.

"Shizune-san, did you graduate the academy?"

"No…" She answered slowly, wondering what that had to do with anything. "I went for a few years, but then Tsunade took me as an apprentice. I would have had to pass the exam when she deemed me ready, but by then we had already left the village."

Naruto smirked.

"What about when you came back? Did you pass any exams or have to sign any registration papers?"

Her jaw dropped as she understood what he meant.

"No! With all the fuss over the invasion and Tsunade becoming Godaime Hokage…and then I was her personal assistant so everyone just assumed…"

Teuchi and Ayame looked on in confusion as Naruto and Shizune smirked at each other. A moment later Natsuko's eyes widened as the proverbial light bulb went off over her head and she laughed out loud.

Ayame got annoyed.

"Would you mind explaining what's so funny? How are we going to get Shizune-chan out of Konoha?"

Natsuko wiped the tears from her eyes.

"That's just it!" She chuckled. "We don't have to do anything because, officially, she isn't a Konoha nin. Everyone just assumed that she was because of her closeness to Tsunade."

"That's…that's just stupid!" Ayame said incredulously.

"That's what makes it so funny!"

"Hang on a minute!" Naruto interrupted. "We still have to check the Shinobi Registry. Just to make sure. And even if we're right, this won't go down easily. It may be legal, but we won't be making any friends. We'll be leaving as soon as the fights over and we get the scroll."

Shizune quirked an eyebrow.

"You sound like you know you're going to win. Who are you fighting?"

Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know. We left the choice to Tsunade and I suppose she'll discuss it with the Council. My guess is that they'll want the Uchiha brat to fight Natsuko-chan and Jiraya to fight me. There's also the possibility that Tsunade herself will fight. Or Kakashi. Or the other team mate, what was her name?"

"Sakura?"

"Sakura, that's it. Either way the only one who presents much of a challenge is Jiraya, and even then that's if he goes all out."

They looked at him with an understandable amount of doubt. After all Jiraya wasn't considered one of the strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations for nothing.

Naruto waved their concern away.

"Don't worry about it. Just be ready to leave." He turned to Teuchi. "I'll have some Shadow Clones help you pack and seal your things if you'd like."

0°0°0°0°0°0

Early the next morning Naruto, Natsuko, Ayame and Shizune were waiting one of the contestant waiting areas of the stadium. Teuchi was at his Ramen Bar directing a group of clones as they carefully packed everything.

Natsuko was frustrated.

Last night Naruto had insisted that they get some sleep. They could go for almost a week without sleeping and still be operational, but he said that the was no point in taking unnecessary chances with their fights and had summoned Kisa-chan to stand watch while they rested.

She understood that, she really did, and it wasn't like they had had sex every night since their first time. Just almost every night.

What she found so frustrating was that, after giving her two friends a very detailed accounting of her sex life, she was feeling very…needy.

'Screw it!'

She glanced at the clock.

'Eight thirty, it'll have to be a quickie!'

Natsuko jumped to her feet, surprising her three companions. She had opted for a miniskirt today, with a pair of tight shorts underneath so that she didn't have to worry about flashing her panties. Otherwise her clothes were the same. Above knee height black kunoichi boots, a tight mini-T-shirt that left her midriff exposed, and a long black trench coat. With one fluid motion she dropped the coat to the floor, hiked her fingers beneath her skirt and pulled both shorts and undergarments down to her ankles before stepping out of them. Ayame and Shizune blushed crimson as they caught a glance at her exposed nether regions before the skirt fell back into place.

Naruto stared on incredulously. He had put up a privacy jutsu around their waiting area the moment thy got there. It was one of his most powerful and would block anyone from seeing, hearing, smelling or otherwise detecting anything that happened within the area. But that didn't change the fact that they were sitting in a rather exposed booth in the Konoha Stadium as dozens of people slowly trickled into the stands.

"Natsuko what the hell are you…"

He was cut off as she pressed a finger to his lips, her other hand fishing into his pants to pull his cock out.

"Ssh…I really need it Onii-chan…and we've only got half an hour."

"But what about…" He glanced at the blushing Ayame and Shizune sitting less than four feet away.

"Ma! I've already told them all about the things we get up to. Actually letting them see us in action won't make much of a difference.

Naruto didn't even bother questioning the logic behind that as his sister stroked his member into full hardness, drawing awed gasps from the other two girls who, despite getting his exact measurements from Natsuko the previous night, were shocked at its length and thickness.

Natsuko pushed her brother back so that he was laying on the bench with her hand holding onto the base of his cock, making it stick straight up and giving her two friends an even better view than before. She smirked at their gob smacked and lustful expressions before contemplating her options.

With a little less than half an hour, and her brother's impressive stamina, they wouldn't be able to indulge much. The problem was that she didn't want to have to choose a single hole since she liked, no, loved it in all three.

Suddenly an idea sprung to mind. An idea that, coupled with having sex in front of her two best friends, would make even a short half hour session fulfilling enough to satisfy her lust.

"Naruto-koi…I want you to make two reinforced clones. Now!"

Naruto blinked at her a few times before his eyes widened in realization. He knew what she had in mind, he was a bit surprised that they hadn't tried it out before, but at the same time…

"Are you sure Natsu-chan?" He asked, worry filling his voice. "I already stretch you out a lot. I know you're Healing Factor will prevent any damage, but there's no point if it's too painful. Are you sure you want to…"

"I'm sure!" She cut him off with certainty.

She was a little nervous but now that he had inadvertently made it a challenge there was no way she was backing down.

Before he could object she lifted her skirt up and straddled his waist in a reverse cow-girl position. Bracing herself by gabbing the edges of the bench, she easily impaled herself on his erect meat pole, moaning loudly as it parted her moist folds. They hadn't engaged in any foreplay, so she was dryer than usual, but still wet enough for him to slide in.

Naruto groaned in pleasure, reveling in the sensation that he could, and would, never grow tired of.

"Now!" She said smugly over her shoulder. "We only have twenty five minutes now. So be a good boyfriend and make those clones so we can give Ayame-nee-chan and Shizune-nee-chan a good show."

Two Naruto clones popped into existence with their cocks standing at attention and sticking out of the zipper on their pants.

Shizune and Ayame, who had been lost by the short conversation, had their eyes widen to dinner plates as they understood what was going to happen. Sure enough, without a word spoken, clone number one swung a leg over the original and got behind Natsuko before seizing his fat cock, pressing the bulbous head to her pink asshole and slowly thrusting in.

Natsuko's cries of pain and pleasure were quickly silence by clone number two as he grabbed the sides of her head in both his hands before forcing his equally large dick into her open mouth and down her throat.

Naruto groaned in ecstasy. Having used the Kage Bushin for years, he knew a lot of tricks about the technique. One such trick, a trick that he was currently using, was that if the he made a chakra string connecting one of the Tenketsu at the base of his skull to the same Tenketsu on his clone, he could get the memory feedback in real-time.

Right now that meant that he was getting the sensations of fucking his sister's mouth, ass and pussy simultaneously. He could feel his cock buried in her cunt as it pressed her walls against his cock buried in her rectum, the usual tightness of her holes made twice as heavenly due to the double penetration.

Natsuko moaned around the throbbing shaft that was working its way down her throat, her eyes fluttering dazedly in pleasure as clone one sawed in and out of her asshole. She started pushing back to meet his thrusts, which had the added effect of drawing her tight pussy walls up and down the original's shaft. When she reached a rhythm she liked she focused on clone two, working her tongue along the underbelly of his pole as he literally raped her mouth. She was forced to pump chakra to her lungs to preserve the air she had because of how enthusiastically he was fucking her face, leaving her no opportunity to draw breath.

Ayame struggled to hold back a moan as she watched her friend get gangbanged by her own brother. She and Teuchi had been shocked and slightly disgusted on the first day when they learnt that Naruto was in fact Natsuko's half-brother. As civilians incest was very much taboo. They had quickly gotten over it however, when they saw how happy the couple was together.

Now that she was actually seeing them in action the knowledge that they were family just made it even more of a turn on. She watched as one of the Narutos rammed his huge cock back into Natsuko's incredibly stretched butt hole and whimpered in need.

Throwing all restraint to the wind, she tore off her clothes and started fingering herself vigorously. She moaned in relief when she felt the tension in her loins start to lessen and her folds dampen. She added another finger, and another, stretching herself more than she had ever dared before. She focused solely on Naruto's cock as it plunged in and out of her friend's ass and her juices started to spill as she imagined that same cock replacing her fingers and plundering her virgin pussy.

Shizune gaped in shock as her waitress friend suddenly stripped and started masturbating. She hesitated a moment before shrugging and following suit.

Naruto, all three of him, grinned as he saw the two girls start pleasuring themselves. He was deeply in love with Natsuko but that didn't stop him from appreciating other females' beauty. He felt his cock grow even harder as he watched Ayame and Shizune's naked bodies, smirking to himself at the thought that it was his cock they were thinking of as they probed their dripping pussies. He felt his balls churn in anticipation and accelerated his pace, determined to go all out on the race to finish.

Natsuko's eyes shot wide open when all three cocks went into overdrive without warning. She could feel all three holes burn deliciously as desire consumed her, the continuous sawing in her ass and pussy creating a raging fire the split right up her middle. She briefly wondered what had happened to spur her lovers' sudden increase in enthusiasm, but the thought vanished when Naruto one started blasting thick ropes of hot creamy cum into her rectum, quickly plastering her intestinal walls with his spunk and triggering her own orgasm.

Nonetheless none of the Narutos slowed their pace drilling into her relentlessly and sending her into throws of orgasmic release as her convulsing pussy walls rippled around the originals shaft, drenching his pants in her sweet nectar. Her loud, but muffled, moans soon pushed Naruto two overboard and he joined his 'brother', spilling his massive cum load down the willing girl's throat, keeping her nose pressed against him so that his cock was shooting its boiling white magma directly down to her belly. The original Naruto wasn't long in joining in, the real-time feedback forcing him to climax. With an animal-like growl of pleasure he slammed her hips down to his and held her in place as he erupted deep into her womb, flooding her wet silky cave with a tidal wave of his thick and potent baby batter, sending her nerves haywire as the viscous and steamy fluid washed over her hypersensitive inner flesh, skyrocketing her already prolonged orgasm.

The two clones pulled out and slumped to the floor, savoring the afterglow of the satisfying romp. Natsuko, once she recovered, looked over at the clock and saw that there were just a few minutes before the first match. She regretfully pulled herself off of her brother's still hard cock and turned to pull her panties and shorts back on. She froze.

Ayame and Shizune were both fingering themselves wildly, eyes clamped shut as their juices dripped from their glistening pussy lips. Looking at the small trickle that was leaking from both her friends Natsuko, for the first time, realized just how much more she produced compared to other girls. She knew that it was a side effect of her Healing Factor but it was still rather shocking, if she was fingering herself like those two she would have been spraying all over the place by now.

With a shake of her head she pushed the thought aside, consoling herself in the knowledge that her Naruto-kun loved to drink up her juices, so the more she could give him the better. She smirked when she thought about the special seal he had created specifically for storing her sweet nectar and the matching flask he used to drink them afterwards. She suddenly got a devilish idea that would show her friends just how happy she was to be reunited with them. Her smirk widened.

She pulled Naruto, the real one, to his feet and lead him by the cock to where Shizune was pleasuring herself, whispering her plan into his ear. He looked at her questioningly with an 'are you sure' look in his eyes to which she nodded.

"Shizune-nee-chan!"

The medic kunoichi snapped her eyes open. She turned a deep crimson when she saw both Naruto and Natsuko standing in front of her as she sat completely naked on the bench, her legs spread wide and her hand buried in her pussy. Her gaze locked onto Naruto's member, still sticking full mast out of his zipper with a halo of dampness where Natsuko's juices soaked into his pants. The strawberry blonde Uzumaki smirked and leant down to whisper in her friends ear.

"Open your mouth Shizune-nee-chan," She murmured huskily. "We've got a present for you."

Such was her embarrassment at being caught that she obeyed without hesitation, opening her mouth wide as she could. Natsuko pushed her forwards a little and pulled Naruto's cock so that it was pointing straight at the medic, the tip less than an inch away from her gapping mouth but still clearly avoiding contact.

Seeing his cue, clone one dispelled. Despite having experience the memories in real-time, Naruto was still forced to re-experience all the pleasure of a half hour of fucking his sister's tight, hot and delectably soft rectum, as well as a mind shuddering orgasm. The memories instantly triggered another and Naruto's seed was sent splashing in thick ropes into Shizune's mouth. Too shocked to react she found her mouth full after the third spurt. Seeing this Natsuko moved her brother's contracting dick around painting her friend's face with his thick cream.

Leaving the woman in a daze Natsuko lead her man over to her other friend. Ayame, having seen what happened, was already waiting unabashedly with her mouth wide open while still fingering herself. As soon as she was within reach she bent forwards and closed her lips around Naruto's cock head, her eyes closed in anticipation as she eagerly flicked the tip with her tongue, trying to coax out her prize.

Natsuko's eyes narrowed in anger and she growled lowly, her eyes flashing red. Only Naruto's calming hand on her back prevented her from lashing out.

Clone two dispelled. The memories of fucking Natsuko's throat had the same effect, triggering voluminous blasts of hot cum to shoot into Ayame's waiting mouth as she moaned loudly, swallowing as fast as she could.

Natsuko quickly knelt down and pulled her cock from the other girl's mouth, possessively engulfing it in her own and sucking hard to claim the rest of the release. The glare she leveled at the ramen waitress carrying a clear message.

'Back off!'

Ayame had the decency to look down in shame before looking back up, her eyes conveying her apology. It had been clear to both Ayame and Shizune just how possessive the two Uzumaki were of each other during their 'girl-talk', but she had just gotten so caught up in things that she forgot and ended up overstepping her bounds.

Naruto sighed in relief as his sister gave a sharp nod to show that she accepted the apology.

'Potential crisis averted.'

He chuckled when Natsuko paid a bit more attention to his cock, cleaning it up with extra care, just to make a point. He understood her anger. He didn't really have any friends so he wouldn't ever be in a similar situation, but if another guy touched his Natsuko…

There would be blood.

Lots of it.

0°0°0°0°0°0

"…and now for the first fight! Uchiha Sasuke versus Namikaze Natsuko!"

Natsuko barely noticed the use of her father's name as she walked into the arena, and she didn't care enough for it to bother her. She was still coming down from her sex induced high, so Tsunade's lame attempt to make her acknowledge the man went right over her head. She had completely ignored the opening announcements, and hadn't even noticed the stands filling up. From the looks of it half of Konoha had come to witness the fights, a turnout that rivaled the Chuunin Exam Finals.

She looked to the other side of the arena and bit back a laugh as Sasuke swaggered out arrogantly, much to the villagers' enthusiasm. She looked up as scanned the crowd. In the Kage booth Tsunade and the Council were looking on with interest, the smug looks on many faces telling her that they were sure of their victory. In other parts the reactions people had to her name varied between interest, shock, surprise, anger, and many more. There were even a number of people cheering for her.

She couldn't care less.

She rolled her hips tentatively and held back a silly grin as she felt the dull throbbing along with her brother's cum sloshing around inside her. She gave a mental laugh.

'It's a good thing I have both panties and shorts…or I'd be leaking his precious cum all over the place.'

"You ready to go down dobe?"

She turned back to her opponent who was now just a few feet from her.

Sasuke scowled when she just looked away again and gazed dazedly into the distance.

"Hn!"

The crowd became silent as Tsunade stood in the Kage booth. Unlike the proctor in the Chuunin Exams, she wasn't standing in the arena with the contestants. The level of the fight, even if it was just a spar, was such that she would most likely get in their way. She raised her arm above her head.

"Remember, this is a fight until incapacitation or surrender. Killing is not authorized and counts as a loss. Ready? Fight!"

Sasuke launched forwards, Sharingan blaring, with his fist cocked for a punch. The punch never landed. He froze a few steps from her and stared in shock at what he was seeing. His Doujutsu had developed enough that he could see his opponents' chakra system. He couldn't see the Tenketsu like the Byakugan, but he could see the 'color' of a person's chakra which helped him anticipate what type of Ninjutsu they would use.

What shocked him into stopping was that the dobe's entire body was covered in a shell of gray. The shade was a perfect balance between black and white.

The Sharingan's prediction abilities came from a rapid analysis of the opponents movements. Everyone was capable of predicting what their foe would do to a certain extent. The Sharingan was superior because it could pick up the slightest details, making the predictions much shaper. What made it even more effective was that it could see the chakra circulation in the body, and given the fact that most ninja used chakra to strengthen their muscles, it truly was as if the Sharingan could see the future.

That is unless one was covered in a skin tight barrier of chakra that reduced even a fully matured Sharingan eye to a fraction of its usual effectiveness.

Taking advantage of Sasuke's shock, Natsuko snapped him with a sharp punch to the gut that sent him flying back.

He managed to get a hold of himself and rolled backwards, using the momentum to get back on his feet. He settled into a well-practiced Taijutsu stance and glared at her.

"What the hell is that dobe?" He demanded much to the confusion of the spectators who had seen nothing more than a punch.

Natsuko shrugged, she could see many of the Hyuuga in attendance waiting for her explanation since they too had their Doujutsu blocked by the chakra shell, but she wasn't going to explain.

She dashed forwards and aimed a quick jab at Sasuke's face. He ducked hastily and back peddled to try and gain his bearings as Natsuko kept up her assault. She grinned when she felt herself getting a little lighter as the level of her training seal lowered. It was designed with two release methods. The first was the usual instant release that dropped all restrictions, allowing her to go all out. The second, the one she was using now, gradually lowered it, level by level, and stopped when she was comfortable so that she could still get some amusement out of her fights. A quick glance at her wrist showed that she was currently at level sixty eight.

'Huh! I guess the teme has gotten stronger. The last A-Rank missing-nin that I fought didn't get me lower than forty five. Let's see if you can do better teme!'

They went on like that for a moment. Sasuke being kept under pressure as he tried to accustom himself to fighting without the advantage of the Sharingan and Natsuko failing to land a hit as her speed wasn't quite good enough yet. She quickly got tired of the pointless dance and jumped back.

Sasuke's eyes widened as she slashed her hand diagonally and a crescent blade of wind shot out towards him. He rolled to the side to avoid the sealess jutsu. He was further shocked when he felt his hair singe as the heat radiating from the strange wind blade passed by him. He grit his teeth when he saw it scorch the ground as it carved a thin trench through the arena floor and cursed at not being able to copy the powerful jutsu.

He did a quick series of hand seals, finishing on Tiger and holding his hand to his mouth as he took in a deep breath.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball)

A large ball of bright red fire, a good five feet wide, spewed from his mouth and shot towards Natsuko. She smirked, took a deep breath, and blew out a stream of…nothing.

At least that's what it looked like at first. At a second glance there was a distinct shimmer, similar to the air on a hot summer's day. The Heat jutsu slammed into Sasuke's fireball making it turn a blinding white, as the flames became many times more intense, before exploding outwards, sending a shockwave of scorching hot air in all directions.

Natsuko used her control over Heat to redirect the blast harmlessly around her, but Sasuke suffered some minor burns as he escaped with a Shushin (Body Flicker).

Up in the Kage Booth Tsunade turned to Jiraya.

"What was that? It looked like a Wind jutsu, but the reaction was much too extreme."

"I'm not sure Tsu-hime…I'm more surprised that she could do both the Wind Blade and whatever the other one was without performing a single hand seal. Both were at least B-Rank jutsu, doing a technique of that level sealess takes a hell of a lot of skill. Either that or it has to be forced through with massive amounts of wasted chakra."

Hiashi Hyuuga, who had his Byakugan active, overheard the conversation and spoke up.

"There was no visible excess chakra." Seeing all attention turning to him he continued. "Both jutsu were perfectly performed with all Elemental Chakra being directed into the jutsu."

"Can you tell if it was just Wind Hiashi-san?" Tsunade asked.

"It was not."

When he didn't elaborate, mostly because he didn't know what type of chakra it was, Kakashi, who was sitting in as Proxy to the Uchiha Seat and had his headband up, revealing his Sharingan, offered his own observations.

"Hiashi-sama is right, neither were wind jutsu." Everyone looked to him as he frowned in confusion. "It looked like a mix between Wind and Fire natured chakra. But at the same time…it wasn't just a mix of the two. What I want to know is what that chakra field around her is. It's like she's got a shell of chakra all over her body that's completely blocking her chakra system from view. It's blocking a good part of the Sharingan's predicting abilities."

Everyone, except Hiashi who already knew, went wide eyed in shock.

"What do you mean 'blocking the Sharingan'?" Jiraya asked in surprise. Both he and Minato had tried and failed to create a seal that blocked that Sharingan. They had cast it aside as an unrealistic task. Although Jiraya was sure that, given enough time, his star pupil would have found a way.

Kakashi just shrugged and went back to watching the match.

Sasuke charged back at Natsuko who hadn't bothered to move from her previous position. He sent a punch to her face, which she ducked under and responded to with a fist in the gut. He stumbled back, wincing from the strength behind the blow.

Gritting his teeth he spun low with a sweep kick, forcing Natsuko to jump over it. Taking advantage of her lack of mobility in the air he stayed low and followed through with the spinning motion by going full circle and sending a vicious high kick at her mid-section.

Rather than trying to dodge, Natsuko caught his foot and let the blow direct her fall. as soon as her feet touched the ground she rotated on her heel, lifting him clean of the floor as she pulled him by his captured leg, and slammed him back down hard.

She jumped back, putting a little distance between them as she waited for him to get up.

'Kami this is boring!'

She looked down at her seal and saw that it had stopped at Level fifty nine.

"Pathetic…" She murmured, but her voice easily carried to the Uchiha as he clamber back to his feet. "Is this the best you can do? I'm not even trying here."

Sasuke scowled and flipped a Tiger hand seal.

"Katon: Goryuka no jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon)

A huge dragon of burning red flames roared towards Natsuko.

She grinned as she leapt to the side. Given the level of the fight so far she was certain that she could end it whenever she wanted. But she didn't want just yet. She didn't really care what the crowd thought of her but she didn't want there to be any doubt that she was the stronger of the two fighters. A quick victory could be chalked up to luck. But if she were to face everything Sasuke could dish out and turn it back at him.

Natsuko's grin turned positively evil, twisting her attractive features into a scary yet beautiful expression. She saturated the air with Heat type chakra and manipulated it to create a dominant heat current.

Sasuke once again stared in shock as his fire dragon passed by the dobe's side, did a wide U-turn, and came shooting right back at him from the other side without a visible explanation. For the second time he was forced to escape with Shushin to avoid being roasted.

Trying to understand what was going on he pumped more chakra into his Sharingan, making it spin wildly, and glared at his opponent. He was rewarded as his eyes picked up small traces of chakra floating in the air all over the arena but mostly around Natsuko. Another roar snapped his attention to the left just in time to roll out of the way of his dragon that was somehow still chasing after him.

His eyes widened as they picked up a stronger concentration of the strange chakra trailing behind the dragon. As it turned back towards him he saw that the concentration wasn't just behind but also before it, coming together as if it was opening the path…

He smirked superiorly as he figured out part of the dobe's trick and dashed towards her, keeping an eye on the 'chakra paths' so that he could anticipate where the dragon would strike.

In the waiting area Shizune looked to Naruto with a confused expression.

"What's happening? How is Natsuko-chan making his Fire Dragon do that?"

Naruto turned to her with a wide grin that made her insides squirm. She struggled, and failed, to hide her blush, becoming acutely aware of the lingering taste of his seed in her mouth.

"She's using heat currents to control the path of the fire jutsu he created." He explained with obvious pride. "The problem with regular Ninjutsu is that once it's launched it's out of the user's control. There are some ways around that, such as using chakra strings to direct a Katon: Housenka no jutsu, but the higher the jutsu rank the harder it becomes. Needless to say, doing so with a Fire Dragon is pretty much unheard of. Natsuko-chan is using that to her advantage to turn the Uchiha brat's jutsu against him. She's also adding heat into the jutsu to hold it together and keep the flames going, otherwise it would have dissipated by now.."

"OK…but how is she doing that?"

Naruto grinned at her, making her dip her head to hide as she blushed again, before turning back to the fight.

"Sorry…that's a family secret."

Down in the arena Natsuko rolled her eyes at the teme's arrogance. He had obviously figured out a part of what she was doing, and seemed to think that it would be a turn in the tide of the battle.

She scoffed at the idea.

Considering that she knew that it was very likely that she would have to fight Uchiha Itachi and his Mangekyou Sharingan, Natsuko had taken care to plan for the encounter as much as possible. She was slightly surprised that Sasuke's eyes could see the chakra she was using to create the Heat currents since she had taken care to put as little into them as possible while maintaining a good attack speed. But the fact that he had seen it didn't bother her much, and it certainly wasn't going to tilt the battle in his favour.

Deciding that it was as good a time as any, Natsuko fished out a specially prepared Hiraishin no jutsu Kunai from inside her coat and threw it hard at the advancing Uchiha. He dodged and it stuck into the ground some ten feet behind him as he continued his advance, throwing his own brace of kunai to provide cover.

Natsuko made an upward motion with her right hand and a wall of boiling magma sprung up, intercepting the projectiles and melting them almost instantly.

Sasuke, in an impressive display of agility, twisted his way around the molten barrier and threw another kunai. Natsuko dodged casually, leaving it to sail harmlessly over her head, but also giving him enough time to perform a hand seal.

"Katon: Goryuka no jutsu!"

Another fire dragon, even larger and hotter than the last, erupted from Sasuke's mouth. With him being just a few feet away from her, Natsuko was forced to use her Hiraishin no jutsu to escape.

Reappearing on the other side of the magma wall, and subsequently letting it fall to the ground, she prepared for the next stage in the Uchiha's humbling. With two waves of her hand she created another heat current bringing the second dragon under her control and sent them both into a defensive circle around her.

Knowing that she wasn't yet skilled enough to pull off what she wanted alone, she seallessly made a Kage Bushin to assist her. She picked up the Hiraishin no jutsu kunai and threw it hard at Sasuke, smirking when she saw his temper getting the better of him and his curse seal spreading out from his neck.

She focused heat chakra into her hands and went through a high speed sequence of hand seal.

'Rat-Dog-Dragon-Rat-Dog-Boar-Snake-Tiger' "Kunai Kage Bushin no jutsu!"

The single Hiraishin no jutsu kunai multiplied into dozens, all of them flying towards Sasuke.

He cursed and ran through seal of a jutsu he copied from Kakashi, his anger growing as he knew that it wasn't his Element and would take a more chakra than his Fire or Lightning jutsu.

'Tiger-Hare-Boar-Dog.'"Doton: Doryuheki!" (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall.)

He shouted his technique and a large earthen wall rose up from the ground. He frowned when his effort was only rewarded with a thump of impact.

Natsuko nodded to her clone who immediately crouched behind her with her eyes scrunched in concentration. She held her hands in front of her, focusing on controlling her Heat chakra, and every single one of the Kage Bushin Kunai stopped in mid-air before flying off to different positions in a rough but large dome around the Uchiha. Only the original kunai struck the defensive wall.

Not waiting a moment the original flicked her wrist, producing yet another Hiraishin no jutsu kunai and ordered both fire dragons out of their circling pattern.

One behind the other, they both roared and flew straight at her.

Tsunade, who had been gapping in shock at Natsuko's skill during the battle, snapped out of her trance and pointed at the two dragons.

"What the hell! Is that gakI suicidal? Those things will roast her alive!"

When she didn't get a response she turned to her old team mate.

"Jiraya!"

She was further shocked when he didn't even turn to talk to her, staring intently at Natsuko who was slowly spinning the kunai in her hands with a look of deep concentration.

"Be quiet Tsunade!" He said a bit snappishly. "I have no idea how she even learnt her father's technique since I know that the only instructions on it are sealed in his inheritance scroll…but to think that she's mastered it to that level…"

"What are you…"

Tsunade felt her jaw drop as the answer to her unfinished question became evident.

Pissed at the uselessness of his jutsu, Sasuke let the earth wall crumble just in time to see the dobe attacking herself with the two dragons he created. The smirk was wiped off his face before it could even form when the first dragon simply vanished just before it could fry her.

His danger senses suddenly went crazy and he instinctively made a rolling jump forwards, avoiding the dragon that would have cooked him alive by a bare hairsbreadth.

He had no time to relax as the second dragon vanished from in front of Natsuko and burst out of a kunai to his left. Only the fact that he could see the chakra paths saved him from incineration. He rolled out of the way and was forced to jump as soon as he was back on his feet as the first dragon came right back at him, appearing from one of the kunai just above him.

He felt his anger grow by leaps and bounds as he had to dodge in every possible direction to escape the randomly appearing dragons.

"What the hell is that?" Tsunade asked incredulously, unknowingly voicing the question everyone was asking themselves.

She stared in wonder as the two fire dragons danced around, appearing from one of the mysteriously suspended kunai to attack Sasuke, before vanishing into another and repeating the cycle with increasing speed.

"That!" Jiraya said in a shaky voice as he finally looked to her. "Is the second level of the Hiraishin no jutsu. She's using the kunai to transport the dragons from one place to another. From what Sarutobi-sensei said it was even able to redirect an head on attack from Kyuubi, but…even Minato didn't take it to this level."

And indignant cry from some of the Civilian Council members made them snap their heads back to the arena floor to see Sasuke outmanoeuvred as a fire dragon slammed into him from either side kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Natsuko watched indifferently as the dust slowly started to settle. She had purposefully lessened the intensity of the flames since she didn't want to kill him, and she could still sense his chakra so she knew he wasn't dead. A quick glance at the Kage Booth showed her the suitably shocked faces of the leading figures of Konoha. Feeling she had made a very good statement of her skill she dismissed her clone, allowing the many kunai to fall to the ground, but not to disappear.

She looked back to the dust with a bored expression.

"Come on teme!" She shouted loudly and mockingly. "You haven't even landed a decent hit yet! Is this all the great Uchiha is capable of?"

Natsuko frowned when there was a sudden explosion of chakra that reminded her of the battle at the Valley of the End. Her eyes widened when it was followed by a screeching, chirping noise similar to the calls of a thousand birds. Suddenly Sasuke in his Level Two Cursed Seal form literally flew out of the dust, a dark mass of vile chakra screeching in his hand.

"Chidori!"

There was a blinding flash. When it cleared he had touched ground on the other side of the arena, his feet digging up two ragged trenches as he skidded to a halt.

Thirty feet behind him stood the now headless body of Uzumaki Natsuko.

A/N: -Noose? -Check! -Gallows? -Check! -Neck? -Uuuh…check? OK! I'm going to hang myself!

I HATE CLIFFHANGERS!

If I were god the eleventh commandment would be: 'Thou shall not write cliffies!'

If I were the devil the last circle of hell would be a place where you're forced to read cliffies all day long and never find out what happens next!

BUT! I'm just human and this was the best place to cut off what is already one of, if not the, longest chapter I've ever written.

I apologise to my readers. To try and calm down your tempers (and avoid any hit contracts), I'll say that Kushina should be back within the next few chapters.

How was the fight scene? I tried to make it interesting but you have to remember that Naruto and Natsuko are GODLIKE! I did say so in the very first chapters. She could have ended the fight as soon as it started if she really wanted to.

Chapter 08: Of Immortality…

FLASHBACK

Natsuko collapsed onto Naruto's bare chest, her firm breasts smooching between their perspiring bodies. It had been a few days since they first made love and they had spent most of that time putting the expression 'Going at it like bunnies' to the test. That left large groups of shadow clones smoldering in jealousy as they were forced to continue training while listening to the increasingly load moans and screams of delight. Not to mention having to clean up the 'flooding' left in the wake of the two love birds. Needless to say, if it wasn't for the fact that clones had to do their assigned task and would disperse on their creators' death there would have been a full-blown revolution in the safe house.

Blissfully ignoring her doppelgangers' malcontent, the female Uzumaki pushed herself onto her elbows so she could peer into her lover's eyes. She shifted her weight onto her right arm and, with her left index finger traced across his collarbone eliciting a small shiver from him. She continued down, past the spot above his heart where their mother was sealed (The seal doesn't show unless chakra is being channelled into it.), and down to his stomach, her finger rising and falling with the dips and rises of his toned abs.

"What's this one for?" She asked, trailing her finger along the scrawl of a large seal. "It looks like the one I have for Kyuubi."

Naruto flicked his eyes down, even though he knew what she was talking about, having placed it there himself.

"It only looks like yours because I wanted it to." He answered. "It's a common practice for seal masters to have the actual array of their more complex seals hidden in a design. It makes it harder for other's to understand it. This particular seal does quite a few things. How big do you think my chakra reserves are?"

"I don't know. But you're easily Kage level."

Naruto snorted softly causing her to give him a frowning pout. He shook his head in amusement. "Sorry, it's just that a Kage is generally defined as the strongest ninja in the village, so technically if there aren't any ninja above Chuunin level…" He pushed the thought aside and got back to answering his own question.

"I've already told you that the Uzumaki have large chakra reserves. Okaa-chan, for example, had the largest in Konoha. I would say she had at least three times as much as Minato and she was a Kenjutsu specialist so they weren't as large as they could have been. There's a reason the KKI (Kumo Kiri Iwa) alliance didn't even try to get Uzu to join them and just launched a surprise attack, they couldn't afford to have them as enemies. A fully trained Uzumaki could, quite literally, throw high-level jutsu for hours on end. You however have the Kyuubi on top of the Uzumaki Kekkai Genki so your reserves are already higher than even the best Uzumaki Ninjutsu specialists were. You could already create a thousand Kage Bushin when your chakra control was all but non-existent. And that's a lot since I never saw Okaa-chan make more than about one thousand five hundred. I…"

"Hang on a minute!" Natsuko interrupted incredulously. "What do you mean she could only make one thousand five hundred? I can create over five thousand if I want! Hell I've seen Kakashi make at least fifty and that was after a fight with Zabuza!"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "I think you're underestimating how hard the jutsu is to perform. There's a good reason it's classified as a Kinjutsu. Hell, there are a bunch of good reasons. I've known Kakashi and I seriously doubt that he can create more than five shadow clones, especially given how lazy he became after he got his team mate's Sharingan."

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline at that snippet but she was too curious about the previous matter to ask about it. "Well I'm telling you I saw him make at least fifty!"

He sighed. "OK! OK! Tell me what happened."

"Well…that's it! He fought Zabuza, then Gato arrived with his thugs so I created a bunch of shadow clones and so did he."

"OK! But are you sure he made Kage Bushin?" He countered. "Keep in mind that the various Bushin techniques are some of the easiest to do without seals. I doubt he's smart enough but he could even have made the hand seal for Kage Bushin and used Mizu Bushin (Water Clone) instead, or Tsuchi Bushin (Earth Clone) or even a regular academy Bushin! The fact is that you saw him make a bunch of clones and you assumed they were the same type as yours."

Her mouth opened and shut a few times as she realized he was right.

"Besides," He added. "If it was that easy to do, everyone would do Kage Bushin training."

"Hang on a minute!.. again." She exclaimed before finishing sheepishly at the volume of her voice. "Does that mean kaa-san had, um, three hundred times more chakra than Kakashi?"

He shook his head no. "Not at all, remember the basic scrolls on chakra. At any given time the human body produces chakra and, if the ninja's reserves are full, that chakra leaks out of his/her body. As the ninja grows, gets stronger and trains the amount produced slowly gets bigger. As it gets bigger it puts a strain on the ninja's chakra coils and ends up damaging them. Fortunately the damage is little enough that the ninja's natural healing repairs it and, in the process of doing so, reinforces and thickens the chakra coils. The more a ninja's reserves grow, the thicker and tougher their coils get. The Uzumaki naturally have thicker and tougher chakra coils so we can handle the strain of Kage Bushin much better. In your case the Kyuubi adds more pressure to your coils forcing them to develop even more, which is why you have big reserves even for an Uzumaki."

She nodded slowly in understanding then looked at him, confused. "What about you? I know you can make just as many clones as me but you don't have a demo…" She trailed of, eyes wide as she looked back down at the seal on his belly.

"Wo-hooh!" Naruto exclaimed. "Slow down there hime! I don't have a demon sealed in me. I would have told you ages ago if that were the case. No, the seal has a couple of purposes. One of which is to create a thin barrier all around my body that stops my chakra from leaking out and forces it back into my chakra coils. That puts more strain on them, which forces them to thicken and so on and so on…"

"So.." She started hesitantly. "How big are your chakra stores?"

"Well, I painted the seal on when I was eighteen, so I've had it for about six years. I also got some serious boosts by taking chakra pills when my reserves were already full." He frowned at the memory. "That hurts like a bitch by the way. So…yeah, my reserves are quite a lot bigger that yours still." He grinned at her. "You can call me the chakra monster."

She looked at him incredulously. "That's lame Onii-chan!"

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… sorry about that! Humor was never my strong point."

Natsuko tapped her chin thoughtfully, a slight frown on her pretty face as she looked at him.

She ran her hand back over the seal on his stomach. "Does it have anything to do with why you look like you're eighteen rather than in your mid-twenties?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment. He sighed. "I was hoping to wait a bit more before telling you about that."

He pushed himself into a sitting position, forcing Natsuko to do the same. There was silence as she sat, watching him think things through.

"When Okaa-chan…" He began slowly, before shaking his head reproachfully and starting over. "When Okaa-san died… I was a wreck. I was very strong by anyone's standards, especially for my age, but I was still just an eight year old kid. Losing both my mother and my newborn sister, even if that was a lie, pretty much destroyed my world."

He paused, his eyes looking into the distance with a haunted look that made sadness echo in Natsuko's heart. She sidled up to him and wrapped her arms around his side as he continued.

"I had always liked researching and creating new stuff, but after that it sort of became an obsession. A refuge to take my mind off of what I'd lost. If that hadn't happened I probably wouldn't have made a quarter of the discoveries I've made. Anyway… back on track.

"For a while I tried to find a way to bring you both back. I had hear of the Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei and I was trying to create my own version, a better one, one that would completely bring you both back."

Natsuko's eyes went wide, both I shock and a little fear. "You… you're trying to bring Okaa-san back?"

Naruto shook his head sadly. "No. I was trying. But I stopped before I completed the jutsu."

She felt a bit of relief and let out the breath she had been holding. The idea of having their mother back was nice, but there was something about bringing back the dead that just made her queasy. "What made you stop?"

Naruto shrugged. "I calmed down… thought about what I was doing. I realized that I really have no idea what happens to someone when they die. I don't really believe in heaven and all that, but who's to say that she isn't in a better place? I didn't want to risk bringing her back and having her resent me for it."

Natsuko nodded in understanding and pressed herself into his bare chest, comforting him with her embrace.

Naruto continued. "Still… I had made some interesting discoveries, one of which was the two most Complex Chakra types I've found to this day." He tapped a finger on his chin. "Hmm… I would call them 'Life Chakra' and 'Death Chakra', since that give's the best idea of what they do. But it isn't really the best name for them. In my opinion 'Growth' and 'Decay' would be better. Growth Chakra combines all five elements, and it causes the growth of all living things. Plants, animals, humans, etc. . I won't bother even trying to explain it to you. It's horribly difficult to mold, and even after all this time it take most of my concentration just to produce some, so forget controlling it enough to shape it. Decay is the same, but opposite. It also uses all five elements, it's also unbelievably hard to mold and near impossible to shape. The difference is that, as the name suggests, I causes all living matter to decay."

Natsuko frowned. She was only just getting the hang of the whole Complex Chakra theory. Combining two of the main elements was hard enough that she really didn't feel like messing around with five.

"What has that got to do with you looking younger than you actually are?"

Naruto chuckled mirthlessly. "When I gave up trying to bring back the dead I turned to a more… feasible endeavor. I began looking for a way to prevent someone from dying. In other words I started working on the rather overused concept of an immortality jutsu."

The young Uzumaki woman blinked and turned her head to look up at him. "What do you mean 'overused'?"

He chuckled in earnest. "When we leave the safe house we'll be going to one of the Black Market spots. We need to get you some experience and the best way to do that is to hunt a few bounties. When we're there well look through the descriptions for some of the higher ranking ones and you'll see what I mean. The amount of nutcases that claim to be immortal is astounding."

"How do you know that they aren't?" She asked curiously.

"Some of them might be." He answered with an uninterested, one shouldered shrug. "In fact I'd say that some of them actually are. But most of them are just run-of-the-mill average ninja with delusions of grandeur.

"Putting that aside. Rather than looking for a way to avoid death, I looked for a way to preserve life. It might sound like the same thing to you, but I think there's an important difference. It made me look at what was rather than what wasn't. if you see what I mean.

He paused again to organise his thoughts. "The way I see it there are three stages during life. During the first stage we're full of growth. Our body grows at a relatively fast pace, turning us from babies to children, to teenagers, and finally to adults. But as we get older, the growth slowly gives way to decay. That brings us to the second stage, our prime. It's the stage where, physically, our body is at its best. An active balance between both growth and decay. Ninja, thanks to their chakra usage and active lifestyles, can usually prolong this stage without actually trying. That's why many middle aged Shinobi and Kunoichi look younger than they are. The last stage is when the balance is broken. Decay overtakes growth and, steadily, the body starts to feel the consequences of its age, becoming weaker and weaker until eventually it just gives out.

"The basic idea of my immortality jutsu was simple. I would harness Growth Chakra and Decay Chakra inside the body, using a specifically designed Fuinjutsu to shape it so that the balance is maintained indefinitely, thus creating a 'false prime condition' that would prevent the body from aging.

"From there I had to tweak it to take care of wounds at high speed to prevent 'violent death'. For example, if a finger is cut off, the jutsu automatically creates a temporary, and localized, imbalance. The Growth Chakra will completely override the Decay Chakra, promoting an explosive regeneration that would rebuild the severed finger in a matter of seconds. As soon as it's done, the balance is re-established and the body returns to its 'false prime condition'.

"It was all theoretical at first. It was a way to keep my mind occupied, and I just wanted to see if I could actually succeed in doing it.

"I first tried it out on this funny little monkey called Jack…"

Natsuko couldn't help herself, she snorted incredulously. "Jack? You have a pet monkey called Jack?"

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "No, actually, he wasn't really a pet. Just a stray monkey I picked up. Not that it matters… he ran away."

She rose an eyebrow right back at him, her incredulity taking another leap. "He… ran away? You're at the level of an S-rank ninja and your pet monkey… Jack… ran away?"

Color rose to his cheeks. "An immortal monkey alright! The jutsu works perfectly! I threw a Fire Jutsu at him that burnt off everything from the chest down, but two seconds later it was completely healed and he was running again. By the time I got over the shock and caught up to him he jumped off the side of a cliff! Kami knows where he is now… he could be off with pirates for all I know."

Natsuko gave him an amused and overly condescending grin. "Of course he could… But, monkey business aside," She snorted at his angry glare. "what happened next?"

He glared a bit more, though there wasn't any real anger behind it, and then sighed. "I never really intended to use the jutsu. I just wanted to see if I could do it. But once I had done it, and had proof that it worked… well I just couldn't not use it! So I did. On both Kisa-chan and myself."

Natsuko nodded in understanding. She had often experienced the same thing. While the comparison was perhaps a bit far off, it was similar to how she started pulling pranks. At first she had just been thinking up ways to get back at those who teased and mocked her. But once she had thought up a great scheme it seemed like a waste to not go through with it. She supposed that he had a similar feeling. After all the effort creating the jutsu must have required, the temptation to use it must have been overwhelming.

That he had used it on his personal summons was unexpected. But it did explain their closeness. In fact, now that she thought about it, she had rarely seen him summon any tigers other than Kisa, and he would often summon her just for a chat or to spend time together. If it wasn't for the fact that she was a tiger, Natsuko knew that she would probably feel a bit jealous.

She pulled away so that she could get a better look at him. Her eyes once again going down to the seal that had aroused her curiosity. "So let me sum this up. When you were… eighteen?" At his nod she went on. "When you were eighteen you used the 'immortality jutsu' you had created, and now your chakra reserves are beyond massive, you'll stay young forever, and you can recover from just about any wound… what about poisons?"

He nodded dismissively. "Anything that adversely affects the body is eliminated. For example, Chakra Pills would work just fine, as would Blood Pills, but cells affected by Soldier Pills would be destroyed by an increase in Decay Chakra before being restored by an increase in Growth Chakra because, while they may provide a temporary increase in power, they are actually very damaging to the body.

"Of course that also has it's down points. For example, the Regeneration Factor you have thanks to the Kyuubi accelerates your physical training. When your muscles are put under too much strain it boots in to make them adapt, making them strengthen faster than an average person's would. With my Healing Factor however, an over strained muscle is considered damaged. So an increase of Decay Chakra would destroy the damaged fibers before they are replaced by an increase in Growth Chakra. And since the new cells would be perfect copies of the most recent healthy, that is to say non-damaged cells, over-training would be pointless. That's why you're catching up to me so fast, you can afford to train until you drop whereas I have to take it relatively slow."

Natsuko frowned. "I would say that that sounds awfully simple for an immortality jutsu, but I guess it's more complicated than you make it seem. What I don't understand is how Decay Chakra destroys the right cells. How does it destroy cells at all?"

Naruto scratched his head as he tried to formulate a way to phrase his answer. The jutsu was complicated because of all the little things that he had to add to make sure it ran smoothly.

He shook his head. "I want to ask you a question first, and you don't have to answer right now, but I want you to think about whether or not you would like me to…"

"Yes!"

He blinked. "What?"

Natsuko rolled her eyes at what, in her opinion, was a stupid question. "Yes, I want you to use your jutsu on me! I've never really wanted to be immortal… I've never even thought about it… but if you're going to live for Kami knows how long, then I want to be right there with you Naruto-kun."

Naruto felt a stupid 'happy grin' creep onto his face and couldn't do anything to stop it. He reached over and brought her into a tight hug, scrunching his eyes up to prevent joyous tears from falling onto her bare skin. He had hoped that she would accept, but he had plagued been with the fear of her refusal. To hear her accept wholeheartedly and without a moment of hesitation…

He smiled and kissed her, trying to convey the full measure of his emotion. "Thank you."

0°0°0°0°0°0

Despite her instant agreement, they had waited until the time was right to actually apply the jutsu. Mainly so that she could take advantage of the Kyuubi given Regeneration and advance her physical training faster.

Like all regenerative abilities, it was a double edged blade. Because it worked by accelerating cellular division to repair wounds, it also had the side effect of proportionately shortening her life span. Fortunately that loss would be nullified the moment they used the jutsu, so they weren't worried.

Natsuko, now seventeen years old, was sitting nervously under the Sakura tree in one of Naruto's, no… their safe houses, where she was waiting for her boyfriend to explain the actual process of applying the jutsu. They would be doing the actual application the next day, but Naruto had insisted that there be a waiting period so that she could ask any questions she came up with, or make up her mind if she still had doubts.

She shook her head bemusedly. 'What a baka… as if I'd ever want to leave him.'

Naruto came out of the small house and sat in front of her, setting a stopper sealed vial of black liquid between them.

He looked at her seriously. "Right I'll get straight to it, if you have any questions I'd rather you wait until I've finished. Do you want to ask any before I start?"

"No, go ahead."

"Alright then. The first step would normally be fairly simple, all I have to do is remove all the pre-existing seals from you. Normally that would be a simple matter of removing training seals and storage seals, maybe check for the odd memory seal or something. But in your case there's the complication of the Eight Trigrams Seal. Overlaying a complex seal with another one is a recipe for disaster if they aren't well tailored to each other, and in this case they really aren't. So the first thing I'll have to do is completely get rid of the seal containing Kyuubi."

He rose a hand to forestall her objections. "A removal function is already included in the Eight Trigrams Seal. I think Minato intended for you to use the Nine Tails' power for the good of Konoha or something of the sorts. The problem is that, to use that function the way he had planned, I would need the Key… and I have no idea where it is. My guess is that it's either with Jiraya or the Toads, neither of which are likely to hand it over. Since I can't remove it properly, I'm going to have to do things the hard way and collapse it. The Kyuubi will probably try to escape and It'll be your job to hold it back. Not for long, and I'll be slapping a Youki Suppressor Tag on you to make your job easier, but it'll still be mostly up to you."

He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I don't know how this 'battle of wills' will happen. It might just be a matter of using your chakra to keep its youki from escaping, or it might draw you into your subconscious where you'll actually have to fight. If it's the later… don't worry! You only have to hold the fox back, that is to say that I need you to stall for time, not beat it. Oh! Because of the nature of the seal both you and the fox will be in 'neutral territory', so to speak, so don't go trying any 'this is my mind do as I say' shit because it won't work.

"On the other hand Kyuubi isn't the only one you'll have to face. The Eight Trigrams Seal can hold a memory imprint of the user, in this case Minato. Normally you'd have to fight him to, but in this case we're lucky because, with the collapsing of the seal, he'll be in your territory. You will be able to do whatever you want to him because it's your mind. Unfortunately you really won't have time to indulge. If you take the time to torment him Kyuubi could use the opportunity to escape.

"In short! Get rid of Minato as fast as you can then move onto Kyuubi. While you're doing that, I'll be taking care of the tricky part. As soon as the seal starts collapsing your body will start breaking down. I will literally be carving out a secondary chakra system to house the Kyuubi's youki. It'll be quick and rough work, with only a few dozen Tenketsu rather than the usual three hundred and sixty one, but it'll hold the youki permanently and you'll be able to access it at will.

"When that's done I'll move onto what would normally be the first part of the immortality jutsu." He picked up the vial of black stuff and waved it in front of her face. "This is a specially prepared solution that I'll inject directly into your heart. It'll spread through your body and help the Fuinjutsu bind to you.

"Next, I'll activate the Fuinjutsu, there are roughly three hundred hand seal so it'll take a while, before applying it to your stomach. Going by experience, it'll take five seconds for the Fuinjutsu to set in, and only then will your body stop breaking down.

"At that point it's pretty much over. If you can hold back Kyuubi until then, you'll be able to banish it and its youki will become yours, filling in the secondary system I will have prepared. Then all that's left to do is add on the Chakra Shell and your Training Seals and we're done."

He went silent and looked at her expectantly, waiting for any questions she might have.

"I thought I would die if the seal was broken?" She blurted out.

Naruto grimaced and gave a jerky nod. "You would. That's what I meant when I said that your body would start breaking down. But the immortality jutsu will fix it up and you'll be fine."

Natsuko nodded in understanding, having suspected the answer, but wanting confirmation. "What did you mean when you said that I could destroy Minato with my mind?"

"The Eight Trigrams Seal is designed to hold an imprint of the user, in this case Minato, so that it, he, can repair the seal if it ever weakens. Like I said, I don't know if that means that he'll appear in your mind or not, but if he does you can destroy him simply by 'wanting' it. The best I can compare it to is the Yamanaka Clan techniques. If you have enough mental strength you can simply 'push' them out. Minato's imprint will be a lot easier than pushing out a Yamanaka because it is just an imprint, it isn't a full person. My guess is that it'll have the knowledge of the seal, obviously, so that it can do repairs, it'll probably have some sort of 'battle experience' and knowledge of jutsu, basically anything that could come in handy to help it keep the seal intact. On the other hand it probably won't have any of the random or trivial memories that give it its identity of self. Which is why it'll be fairly easy to dispose of."

She frowned in confusion. "Then why can't I do that with Kyuubi? No, wait! You said I can't do that with Kyuubi during the first bit, but I can when the jutsu is in place? Why's that?"

Naruto grunted as he thought of a way to explain. "The Eight Trigrams Seal creates a sort of bond between you and Kyuubi. As long as that bond is there your subconscious is a sort of middle ground between the two of you. Even when I collapse the seal its… structure… will remain, which is why, normally, your death would also mean your tenant's death, the bond would drag the fox down with you. Once the immortality jutsu is activated that structure will be erased, so the bond will be broken, and the Kyuubi will be a foreign presence in your mind that you can dispose of. It'll probably be a lot harder than dealing with Minato, but since we already know that you've been able to resist Kyuubi's power when it's tried to influence you, I'm confident that it's within your grasp."

"But if I get rid of Kyuubi, won't I get rid of its youki too?"

Naruto shook his head. "Kyuubi is its youki. All of the Bijuu are. A Bijuu is a constant amount of youki that… Kami knows how… gained and developed a form of intelligence. When you 'get rid of it' you'll be destroying that intelligence, but not destroying the youki."

He scratched the back of his head in thought. "Picture it like this. You're a cup and the Kyuubi is… strawberry flavored water that's held inside you. You'll be getting rid of the strawberry flavour, but keeping the water. Over time the water will probably gain a new flavour, but it'll be Natsuko flavour. The youki will become a part off you rather than something you hold back."

Natsuko folded her arms in her lap and leaned back against the tree. "So it'll just be a secondary chakra source… does that mean it'll be easier to control?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah. Until now you had to fight for control because you would want to do one thing, and the youki's own intelligence would want to do another, and the more you used the harder it got. Once the Kyuubi is erased it'll be just like normal chakra, you'll still have to learn how to use it, but you won't have to fight for it."

0°0°0°0°0°0

The next day found Natsuko laying naked on the couch, her fists balled in anticipation. Naruto stood next to her with two shadow clones, the one on the left was holding a thick paper tag and the one on the right was carrying a syringe filled with the black liquid needed to help bind the Fuinjutsu to her body.

"Ready?" Naruto asked, getting a sharp nod in return. "Then let's get to it."

He went through a long series of hand seals, a sight that seemed strangely foreign to Natsuko's eyes. When he finished his hand was glowing with blue chakra Kanji but before she could get a decent look at them the glow increased to almost blinding levels. To break the Eight Trigrams Seal enough that it would start to collapse, she knew that he not only had to have a detailed understanding of how it worked, but he would also have to put a lot of power into it.

She braced herself as he reared his hand back and struck his Kanji covered palm into her seal.

"GGGRRAAAAAAAG-"

0°0°0°0°0°0

"Sweet Kami-sama that hurt!"

Natsuko blinked her eyes open, from having clamped them shut against the pain.

"Damn… here again."

She looked around the sewer/basement/boiler room that was her subconscious, with no small amount of distaste. A loud grumbling noise drew her attention to one end of the passage and her eyes widened when she saw a flood of violent red youki pouring towards her. She reacted without hesitation.

Her hands came up in front of her and three Wind Tigers, each seven foot at the shoulders, sprung to life and charged at the oncoming wave of youki. Natsuko fell into place behind them, completing the diamond formation, protected by her creations. The first tiger only slowed a little as it collided with the front of the wave, sending youki crashing to the sides as it opened up a narrow path. The chaotic energy gouged into the walls and it was only then that the young Uzumaki noticed that they were crumbling, slowly falling apart like a dried up sand castle.

"I guess that's how my mind shows that my body's starting to die…" She murmured, oddly indifferent to the idea since she had full trust in her brother's skill. All she had to worry about was keeping the demon contained.

She snapped her attention back to the path before her as the first tiger blinked out of existence and was replace by the one to its left.

They continued running down the straight corridor surrounded by a continuous stream of youki when… all of a sudden… it stopped. Natsuko blinked as her tiger suddenly had a much easier time parting the red sea in front of it and they soon burst out of the corridor.

She looked back to see that the youki was still gathering up, but didn't seem to be making any progress. She frowned at the sudden change before comprehension dawned on her.

"Naruto-kun must have activated the Youki Suppressor Tag."

Her danger senses went crazy and she jumped to the side just in time to dodge a massive paw. She looked up to see the Kyuubi no Kitsune in all its terrifying glory snarling down at her with waves of youki bubbling off of its legs and running in slow thick rivers towards the tunnel she had just exited.

"Crap!"

"GRAHAHAHA! YOU PATHETIC LITTLE NINGEN! I'M GOING TO RIP Y-"

Natsuko's Wind Tiger made a running jump and flew, literally, through the air to claw its way into the Demon Fox's face. She was dismayed to see only the tiniest of scratches appear on the behemoth before it was filled in with more youki, giving the impression of having healed. She briefly wondered why it had so little effect when the other tigers had torn through the flood of youki in the tunnel quite easily but pushed the thought aside as the giant, and very angry, fox started gathering massive amounts of youki in front of its mouth.

She cursed under her breath as she gathered her chakra. "Crap! 'Just hold the Kyuubi back!' He said. 'You don't have to beat it!' He said. I'll be lucky if I last three seconds."

One thing that she sometimes mourned from her 'idiot days' was her eternal blindness to the strength of her enemies. She had faced down Zabuza, Orochimaru, a partially released Shukaku and other powerful foes with only the skills of a subpar Genin, but she had never stopped to consider the fact that she might actually loose, let alone die. Now that she had smartened up, and was a very high level kunoichi, she was painfully aware of how fearsome her tenant truly was. The display she put on in the Valley of the End was like a drop of rain in the storm compared to the monster in front of her.

As much as she would hate to admit it, she would later come to understand people's wariness of her.

Knowing that backing down wasn't an option, she took a brave step forwards, knelt down on one knee, and slammed both her fists into the steadily crumbling floor. Her chakra flared impressively and the ground in front of her almost instantly turned into molten lava. Huge, twelve foot wide, balls of magma shot at the fox, converging on its mouth and smashing into the sphere of youki it was creating.

Kyuubi roared as the cluster of boiling rock projectiles and its own unfinished attack crashed into its face and exploded, tearing off its muzzle before more youki built it back up. Unnoticed by Natsuko, the fox's overall size decrease by a tiny amount.

One of the nine massive tails swung around, and Natsuko had to jump high into the air, propelling herself with Wind Chakra to rise higher and faster to avoid being hit. She flipped over and stuck to the ceiling as the youki appendages flailed around madly, trashing up the floor and spraying the remaining magma about. She pressed her hands to the slowly degrading roof and pumped even more Lava Chakra into it. She shaped her chakra to bend the flow harmlessly around her, and protect herself from roasting alive, as several dozen tons of superheated rock came caving down.

The Kyuubi roared, its anger growing, as the scorching weight landed on its unprepared back and half crushed it as it was forced to its belly.

Natsuko grinned victoriously and ran, upside down, to another spot of the ceiling, fully intent on repeating the process as many times as possible to slow the fox down.

Just as she was about to unleash a second wave a glimmer of blue caught her attention. She tilted her head in time to see a thick blue tube… thing, easily ten foot in diameter, that seemed to be siphoning off the youki that was pooling around the edges of the room.

She cursed, shaped the lava into a large serpentine dragon, jumped on its back and flew down towards the drain, running a desperate race as more and more youki was leaking out.

"Damn it Naruto! You said it would be a matter of seconds! I've been in here at least ten minutes already!"

Nearing the half-way point, and starting to fear that she had failed, she was once again distracted by a deafening roar. Her eyes widened as a huge youki enhanced shockwave blasted out from the Kyuubi, sending the magma on its back flying in all directions as the dense sphere of destruction rippled outwards. She hastily ordered her dragon to wrap around her in a protective cocoon and pumped more chakra into it to help it hold.

She smashed against the inside of her defensive ball as it was buffeted backwards, only surviving the contact because of the large amounts of chakra she was using to strengthen her body.

She let the severely weakened dragon uncurl itself, as soon as she felt it was safe, and stood on its steamy back. Her eyes momentarily widened in shock at the destruction the fox's attack had wrought. The room was now almost perfectly spherical and, if she had to guess, roughly half the size of Konoha. The only irregularities being the parts where larger and larger sections were breaking off and falling down.

Another, smaller, shockwave brought her attention to the very bottom of the crater. The Kyuubi was glaring at her murderously, with its throat bulging as if it had just swallowed a large…

She paled. "Crap!"

She flared her chakra as high and as wide as she could while taking in a deep breath.

The fox's maw opened fully and a devastating beam of energy blasted out. "KYUUBIKO IMARI!"

Sweat poured down Natsuko's face as the Kyuubi's attack screeched towards her, bristling the hairs on the back of her neck with its sheer power. She released her breath in a strong Spear of Wind and then thrust her hands forwards, forcing the air all around her to gather in a cone pointed at the dead center of the oncoming blast of youki.

Her dragon fell apart as soon as the two techniques collided and, without footing, she was blasted back against the curved wall. The last of her breath was forcefully ejected from her lungs, but she kept her hands up and held the wind cone in position, gritting her teeth as the beam was split in two careening off wide to either side of her and gouging out massive portions of the wall. When the assault finally stopped Natsuko used Body Flicker to get away from between the two blast craters.

That proved to be a wise choice as it gave her the perfect vantage point to see the fox slamming its giant clawed forepaw down on the spot she had occupied just moments prior. She breathed out in relief as she used chakra to keep her feet from slipping on the curved surface of the wall/floor that, she only now noticed, seemed to have a black ooze bubbling up from between its many cracks.

Her relief and observations were cut short when she realized that dodging the blow had placed the fox nearer to the exit than she was. Not only that, but the thick pipe was now completely red and was still draining youki outwards.

Fortunately, the mighty Bijuu seemed to have no intention of making a quick escape, as it turned to her with another, even bigger attack charging up. She created a bunch of clones and stood at the side of the group as they all started pushing Lava Chakra into the ground to create a more solid defense…

The world went grey.

Natsuko looked around wildly as everything, which admittedly wasn't all that much, disappeared from view and was replaced by an endless sea of uniform grey. She scrunched her eyes shut and opened them again, but nothing changed. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. She felt panic start to descend as she realized that she couldn't even move, or rather… she could move, she just couldn't feel that she was moving. Naruto hadn't said anything about this, and for a moment she wondered if it meant that she had failed. Was she dead? Would she never see him again? Never hold him? Kiss him? Make love to him?

And then it was over.

She breathed out a sigh of relief as feeling came back to her. The grey flashed a bright white, before slowly started to fade in favour of a multitude of colors that gradually became more defined.

When the white had completely receded she found herself standing in a near perfect replica of the safe houses Naruto had built. Everything was there. The stony archway that lead out. The soft grass that covered the ground. The few fruit trees standing off to one side. The small traditional styled one story house. And, finally, the full bloom sakura tree.

There were a few differences. Firstly, there were two ponds and two streams, instead of just one, with both leading off into the wall of the dome-like cave that the safe house was built in. A simple wooden arch bridge crossed over both of them in one go. The first pond, and the stream connected to it, was filled with light blue water that she instantly recognized as having the same 'feel' as her chakra. The second pond was empty, as was the stream bed that connected to it. The second difference was that, under the sakura tree, there was a transparent blue ice block, similar to the one Naruto kept their mother's body in, with what was clearly a naked female held inside.

Curious, she started walking towards it.

"KYUUBIKO IMARI!"

She spun around, startled by the sudden but unmistakable roar. Her eyes widened when she saw the huge blast of angry red youki speeding towards her. Instinctively, she threw her hands up in front of her…

She blinked.

The blast had disappeared.

Kyuubi blinked.

The monstrous attack had simply vanished before it could reach its target or cause any damage whatsoever.

"You'll be able to do whatever you want because it's your mind."

Her brother's words played through her mind as she stared at the dumbfounded Demon Fox. She took a moment to take in the strange sight that was the Bijuu in her subconscious. Her subconscious. It was rather curious, the beast was still at its full size, which was considerable higher than the cave's ceiling, and yet it had no problem fitting in.

She shook her head to clear it of the strange observations. 'This is my mind… I don't suppose there's any reason why it should obey the laws of Nature. Yeesh! I'm starting to sound like Naruto-kun.'

She looked up at her no-longer-tenant with a vicious smirk. "Oy! You bastard Fox! Get the fuck out of my head!"

She brought her left hand up to face level and snapped her fingers loudly. Very loudly. So loudly in fact, that the sound echoed around like a clap of thunder. For a moment nothing happened. Then overwhelming aura of malicious intent that constantly radiated off of the Kyuubi simply vanished. Natsuko watched in awe as the giant fox seemed to lose its shape and floated into the empty pond. It shimmered a bit, before running down the stream like a river of wine.

She shivered as she felt a tingle in the back of her mind as the youki slipped under her control. A grin stretched her face as a tugging sensation in her gut pulled her away.

0°0°0°0°0°0

"GGGRRAAAAAAAG-"

Despite having expected it, Naruto flinched at the ear splitting scream that tore from his sister's throat, as well as its abrupt end when her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her tense body slumped in a dead faint. Keeping his mind focused he held his hand up in front of him and closed his eyes.

Creating either Growth or Decay Chakra separately was difficult, but he needed to mold both at the same time. Slowly, a white glow encompassed his left hand and a black glow encompassed his right, he immediately began a new, and longer, sequence of hand seals.

Vile red youki started bubbling up from the seal as it started to unwind, small black kanji splitting off from the spiral and disappearing one after the other. The left-hand clone slapped its Youki Suppressor Tag on her forehead before the youki could seep out too much and forcing it back into her body. The sealing array on the thick piece of paper came alive and glowed brightly as it struggled against the amount it was forced to restrain. Thankfully, the youki receded.

The same clone snatched her up and carried her to the next room where a vast sealing array had been carefully inscribed all over the floor and up a good part of the walls. He gently set her limp form down in the only unpainted area in the middle of the room. Seeing the original, who was still performing hand seals, and the other clone, who had his syringe at the ready, enter the room, he set to work on his last assigned task.

He knelt beside her, placed his hand on top of the rapidly collapsing Eight Trigrams Seal, and forced his chakra into it. He held for a moment before wincing when the Kyuubi's youki latched onto it, seeing it as a possible way of escape. Without skipping a beat the clone shaped his chakra into a very thick chakra string and stretched it into Natsuko's dying body. He worked as fast as possible, while remaining as precise as he could and coaxing the youki along the same trail, branching off at all the right places to create the secondary chakra system. When he completed the last coil, he held it in place and caused sharp 'spikes' to shoot out at strategic points, allowing roughly sixty small bursts of youki to escape her body, thus creating the Tenketsu.

With his job done the clone got back to his feet before leaving the room, not dispelling himself so as not to risk distracting the original.

The original Naruto Finally completed his hand seals, leaving his right hand glowing grey, its shade perfectly balanced between white and black. He pressed his hand down on the floor and the large sealing array in the room lit up in the same colored glow. Gradually, parts of the array lightened, glowing white, while others darkened, glowing black, but most parts of it stayed in the original color. Suddenly the whole thing shimmered and twisted, before swirling onto Naruto's palm. When every surface of the room was cleared Naruto's palm bore a near perfect replica of the seal he bore on his belly.

He nodded shortly at his remaining clone.

Seeing the nod the clone plunged its syringe into Natsuko's erratically beating heart and pressed down on the plunger, emptying the contents into her bloodstream. He then followed the first clone's example in leaving the room without dispelling.

Naruto knelt next to his sister. Without preamble he tore of the Youki Suppressor Tag, ignoring the wisps of youki that were seeping out of the newly formed Tenketsu, and slammed his right palm down on her now seal-free stomach.

Grey, black and white kanji shot out, curling around every part of her body as Naruto took a few steps back. When her entire body was coated in grey, even her hair, the light 'throbbed' a few times. As the creator of the technique, Naruto knew that this meant that she was being scanned, evaluated, and memorized. The jutsu would take an imprint of her body, evaluate and rectify all the 'damaged' parts, then memorize the end result. In the future all damage would return her to a fully healed seventeen year old body.

Naruto dispelled his clones as he watched the grey begin to sink into her skin, signaling the jutsu's completion. Normal, black ink kanji swirled to her stomach, taking a shape similar to the Eight Trigrams Seal, before disappearing from sight, leaving his lover's tummy with smooth and flawless skin.

He sighed in relief. "Jutsu success!"

No longer pressed for time, he took out a brush and ink and he carefully replaced her Training Seals, adding in the slight modifications that would allow her to alter them even after he activated her Chakra Shell.

He paused for a moment. Natsuko was easily deserving of S-Rank status by now, she only needed more experience and she would probably be the most powerful ninja in the elemental nations, second only to him. He hadn't explicitly told her so but, with their chakra capacity, their ability to learn and master things at inhuman rates thanks to Shadow Clone training, and the latest addition (in her case) of the Immortality Jutsu, they were almost godlike. Even the most powerful of ninja couldn't use their bodies to full capacity, at least not for long, but with the jutsu to repair any damage the very moment it happened the two Uzumaki could open all Eight Inner Gates without worry if they wanted to. With that sort of strength he didn't have to worry about her being overpowered or captured, even with the threat of Akatsuki lurking over her head. But that didn't mean he shouldn't prepare.

With a short nod of agreement to himself he slipped his hands between her legs and gently parted them. He dipped his brush in the ink and, pressing it to her upper inner-thigh, started writing down the Kanji for a Fuinjutsu he had created as a posthumous gift for the third anniversary of his mother's death. Despite its small size, it took almost fifteen minutes to complete. When he finished he activated it by feeding in some of his chakra. The coils of kanji unfurled themselves, reaching out like a crawling vine to her private areas, breasts as well as her mouth, before rolling back up and disappearing, leaving no visible trace of the seal whatsoever.

Naruto rearranged her legs and sat back with a satisfied smile on his face, assured that his sister and lover would never be… 'touched'… by anyone but himself.

He finished his work by painting and activating the seal for the Chakra Shell, then picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bedroom to recover. Just as he placed her down on the bed, her eyes snapped open and she sat up, almost bumping their heads.

Naruto blinked, not having expected her to awaken so soon, but he easily shook off the surprise. He had been alone when he applied the jutsu to himself, so he really didn't have a set idea on how long it should take. Before he could ask how she was feeling she looked down at her stomach.

Natsuko blinked in confusion as she ran her slender fingers over her sealess belly. She looked up in mild panic. "What happened? Why haven't I got the seal like yours? Did it go wrong?"

Naruto hastily placed his hands on her in a reassuring gesture. "It's fine! It all went just fine. The seal isn't visible because I added on a few kanji to the array so that it would sink into your skin and mask itself once it was complete. I know you like to wear those sexy little tops that expose your slim and perfect midriff so I thought that would be for the better." He finished with a suggestive grin.

Natsuko nodded and grinned back. They both knew that those tops were mostly for his benefit, rather than hers. After all, he was the one who got the permanent eye candy as they walked from place to place.

He peered into her eyes questioningly. "How do you feel? Were there any problems?"

Natsuko blinked a few times before actually taking notice of her brother's face just a few inches from her own. "No, I'm fine. I feel…great!"

She rolled her shoulders experimentally, stretching her arms above her head and smirking when her brother's graze wondered down to her rising breasts. Then she frowned angrily as she remembered the way-more-then-a-few-seconds fight she had had against the Kyuubi.

Naruto blinked out of his perverted observations when she bopped him none to gently on the head.

"'Were there any problems?'" She asked incredulously. "I was in there for aaaaaaages! I dropped a hundred tons of boiling rock on its back and it just shook it off! What took you so long? I didn't even see Minato-"

Suddenly images danced through her mind as if she had just dispelled too many Shadow Clones. Observations, thoughts and conclusions wormed their way into her head but, unlike the feedback from her clones, they felt strangely foreign and she had difficulty processing them.

Naruto, who had recoiled because of her punctuating each of her sentences with a solid bop on his head, leaned forwards worriedly as she spaced out, her eyes staring forwards vacantly as their lids fluttered up and down.

"Natsu-chan? Natsuko are you alright?"

She blinked as she seemed to slowly come back to her senses. "Flying Thund… Eight Tri… Key…"

She finally snapped back and rubbed her temples with nursing care.

She looked back at her brother with a freaked out expression on her face. "I think… I think I just got a bunch of Minato's memories."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her. "Huh?"

Natsuko frowned a little as she went over the memories that were just forced on her. "Flying Thunder God, Eight Trigrams Seal, the Key, Fuinjutsu, Taijutsu… I can remember a bunch of things." She gained a sour look, pursing her lips in displeasure. " I can remember sealing the Kyuubi in… well… me."

Naruto's forehead creased in thought. "What happened when you faced him?"

She glared at him reproachfully. "I didn't!"

After a detailed rundown of what happened in her mind, and the appropriated amount of praise for actually facing down the embodiment of Natural Disaster, Naruto took a moment to try and figure out what could have happened. He had been quite sure of himself, so he was rather embarrassed that things hadn't gone as he had anticipated.

He scratched his chin. "I think that, when I broke the seal, the initial wave of youki could have destroyed the imprint of Minato… no… it would have destroyed the chakra, but not the actual memories of the imprint. You carved your path through that wave easily enough because it was uncontrolled, whereas the actual Kyuubi itself had focus and easily overpowered you chakra with its more potent youki. For each youki attack it used, you probably had to use many times more chakra just to equal it's power. The magma was more effective because it was more… 'physical'."

He paused in thought before shrugging. "I can't be sure but my best guess is that, when you wiped the youki clean of Kyuubi, Minato's memories were left floating around your head."

He continued hesitantly. "The imprint couldn't do anything because it no longer had any chakra, so when you thought of Minato… his imprint's memories were integrated into your consciousness. The discomfort was probably due to the differences between your minds. When you get feedback from your clones it works out well enough because their mind works the same way as yours, but Minato's would be different enough that it felt… wrong."

Natsuko nodded distractedly. After facing the Fox and experiencing its power first hand she was eager to try and use its… her…youki. She closed her eyes and reached inwards, searching for the source of her energies. She easily recognized her own chakra, as well as the new sensation of containment that she supposed was the Chakra Shell redirecting her chakra back into her body to increase her reserves. She smiled as she identified the heavier feel of the youki and pulled it up to the surfaced. She was momentarily surprised, but very pleased, with the easiness of the task compared to the few previous times she had used it when borrowing from the Kyuubi.

She opened her eyes to see that her body was surrounded by an uncontrolled aura of potent red youki. Unlike previous times it didn't thrash around wildly or form a fox-like shroud. It simply roared around her like a well stoked fire.

There was no maliciousness whatsoever.

Kyuubi was dead.

Natsuko grinned happily… Her brother had freed her of her burden.

END FLASHBACK

"Chidori!"

There was a blinding flash. When it cleared Sasuke had touched ground on the other side of the arena, his feet digging up two ragged trenches as he skidded to a halt.

Thirty feet behind him stood the now headless body of Uzumaki Natsuko.

Natsuko blinked in surprise as she looked about her mindscape. This was the first time she took a head shot, but from what her brother told her it was supposed to be over pretty fast.

She sighed despondently. "Why is nothing ever normal with me?"

She smiled and looked around fondly. She hadn't been in her mindscape since she destroyed the Kyuubi and she was curious to find out exactly what changes had happened. Remembering the block of ice that she never managed to get a look at, she made her way over to the sakura tree. She was only slightly surprised to find that the body in the casket was her own, and that its head was glowing white. She suspected that it was connected to the Immortality Jutsu, the image her body returned to when it was damaged.

The sound of a door rustling open on well-oiled hinges made her spin around. A beautiful woman with long red hair walked out, swinging her head from one side to the other until her eyes landed on Natsuko.

Her eyes widened. "Natsuko-chan?"

Natsuko's jaw dropped. "Okaa-san?"

Chapter 09: …Family…

The two Uzumaki women stared at each other dazedly. Both of them drinking in the other's features.

Natsuko launched herself at her mother and tackled her in a crushing hug that sent them both tumbling to the ground. They both shed tears of happiness and sorrow, glad that they could finally met but sad for all the years they could have had if things went differently.

Natsuko lifted her head up so that she could see her mother's face. "Wha… how are you here?"

Kushina smiled at her and Natsuko was struck by how similar they looked. If it wasn't for the difference in hair color, eye color, the thin whisker marks on her cheeks, and the slight difference in age they could easily pass for identical twins.

"I really don't know." Kushina answered. "I've been here for a while… ever since Kyuubi is gone. But I really don't understand how."

Natsuko tried to work out what was happening, thinking back to everything her brother had said, and trying to remember if any of it could explain what was going on. Then the answer came to her, slapping her in the face like a cold bucket of water.

She was a memory imprint.

The realization sent a pang of sadness through Natsuko's heart. She was still glad to see her mother, to get to talk to her and hold her. But the fact that she wasn't really her mother took away from the value of the situation.

Oblivious to her daughter's plight, Kushina untangled an arm from their embrace and pressed her hand to the blonde's cheek.

She smiled lovingly, fresh tears emerging from the corners of her eyes. "My little girl… my precious baby girl…" Her voice cracked a little. "You're all grown up…"

Natsuko felt her own eyes well up and leaned back into the hug. Imprint or not, she was still her mother.

When they finally cooled down they moved over to the tree, leaning against it, and each other, as the basked in a silent moment of mother-daughter companionship.

Natsuko laid her head down on Kushina's shoulder. "I don't understand. From what Naruto-kun told me you weren't there when Minato did the sealing. So how can he have added an imprint of you."

Kushina also tilted her head, laying it on top of her daughter's. "I wasn't and… I don't think he did. Given the argument we had before he stole you from me it would have been a stupid thing to do. He would have been worried that my imprint would try to destroy the seal before it could fully bind to you."

Natsuko smirked at the livid tone of her mother's voice as she spoke of her ex-husband. "So… how are you here then?"

Kushina sighed. "I really don't know Natsuko-chan. I'm good with seals, or… I was good, I guess, since I'm dead. Anyway… I really don't know what happened."

She paused and closed her eyes as she thought back. She had done so a good few times already since she first woke up and found herself in her daughter's mindscape. There had been other, earlier, times when she seemed to awaken, but they were all blurry and she didn't know what to make of them. Her earliest, reliable, memory before waking up under the beautifully blooming sakura tree, was of her laying on a hospital bed with her eight year old son sitting next to her, holding her hand as tear tracks ran down his cheeks.

She smirked. "So… how's your brother?"

Natsuko pulled away, blushing heavily at the slightly husky tone in her mother's voice. When she saw the sly expression on her face she instantly knew that the woman was aware of the intimate relationship that her two children shared. The ex-Jinchuuriki wasn't sure whether to be relieved that she didn't have to tell her mother about it, or whether to be worried that she would now have to explain herself.

Without really thinking, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "How did you know?"

Kushina's grin widened. She pointed up to the thick canopy of pink sakura blossoms above them. "I've discovered that each petal hold a memory. One of your memories."

She brought a hand up to her heart as if recounting a tragedy. "Imagine my surprise when, unaware of this fact, I went for a spot of tree climbing, brushed my hand across one of the pretty flowers, and suddenly found myself reliving my own daughter's memory of having her bum thoroughly ploughed. And by my own son no less!"

The only thing that kept Natsuko running for the hills, metaphorically, although since this was her mind she probably could create some hills to run to, was the now ear to ear grin on her face.

She smiled back tentatively. "And… you're okay with Naruto-kun and me being… you know?…"

Kushina sighed, her expression becoming more serious as she knew that this was an important discussion. "Yes! I'm okay with it! Don't get me wrong! I was shocked when I first found out. What makes it worse is that, since it's your memory, I relived it from your point of view. So it was basically as if Naruto-kun was fucking me!"

She shivered in what seemed to be a mixture of disgust, shock, and pleasure. "My little boy certainly has grown up…"

She met eyes with Natsuko and sighed again. "At first I was astonished. I mean, learning that you've missed seventeen years of your son's life, all of your daughter's life, and that they are now immortal and involved in a very intimate relationship with each other isn't an easy revelation. I literally fell right out of the tree. When I got over the initial shock I decided to look through some of your memories. Not too many! Just enough to get an idea of what's happened and what I've missed. It's surprisingly easy actually. You just have to place your hand on the tree trunk and focus on what you want, and the appropriate petals just fall down on you. I guess you could say that I got a rundown of the 'highlights' of your life.

"I can't say that I was surprised at how bad your life in Konoha was, to tell the truth I had feared that it would be worse. But it did prove to me that I was right in not wanting you to be the Fox's vessel. And then when you met your brother… well, let's just say that I can understand how things turned out the way they did and leave it at that."

Natsuko let out the breath she had been holding. "You're sure?" She asked, wanting to know without a shadow of a doubt. "I know it's a bit strange, because we're brother and sister, But we really do love each other."

Kushina nodded. "I know you do. And, despite the… unusual pairing, I think you make a beautiful couple." She smiled softly. "To tell the truth I'm a little jealous, I wish I had a love like the two of you share."

Natsuko looked down to hide her blush. She frowned. "I know how you feel about Minato… that's a bit of a relief actually, since both Naruto-kun and I hate him. But what about Naruto-kun's father? He never talked about him, although I'll admit that I haven't asked about him either."

Her eyebrows rose a bit when she saw her mother flinch, but she waited without commenting on it.

Kushina opened her mouth as if to talk, but closed it just as fast. "Naruto's father… it's complicated. I think it's best if we just…"

Natsuko interrupted her as she got an idea. "Hey! How about you show me? You know, directly, with your memories."

"No!"

She flinched back, startled by her mother's curt response. "I didn't mean everything." She said, trying to hide her hurt feelings at being so harshly rejected. "Just like how you met and…"

She frowned when her words seemed to make her mother's back stiffen, before she shook her head vigorously, making her long hair fan around her in a red blur.

"No!…"

A single strand of Kushina's hair whipped out from the group and arched, almost in slow motion, towards Natsuko's face.

"I'm not going to show you anything about Nar…"

The tip of the long silky red thread brushed across the middle of Natsuko's forehead.

0°0°0°0°0°0

She was running as fast as she could but with her fractured leg, the slash on her stomach, the Lightning jutsu burn on her left arm, and the long set in weariness that was bogging her down, that wasn't very fast at all.

The Jounin in charge of her unit had ordered a retreat. They were to break ranks and disperse, before regrouping at the designated location in one week. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she thought of how things had gone so terribly wrong for her clan and village.

At first the attack had been seen as something of a joke, even if there were three Major Villages leading it.

Uzugakure was a small village, with the Uzumaki being the only Bloodline clan. The other two clans, the Iga and the Koga, were specialists trained from birth in the arts of stealth/assassination and poison/combat respectively. The civilian born Shinobi constituted less than ten percent of the village's military force. Despite their small numbers, the ninja of Uzugakure had held no fear of falling to their attackers. The whirlpools that surrounded the village provided a strong natural defense and, while it could be crossed with Water Walking, it ate up a lot of chakra and gave the defenders easier targets to aim at. After that, the walls of Uzu were as good as any other village's, and more than enough to stop those who got that far until they could be taken out. And with the Uzumaki Ninjutsu specialists standing on the walls, using their large chakra reserves to send down wave after wave of Ninjutsu, well… there hadn't been anything to fear.

And then there was a breach.

Somehow one of the defending units had been taken out, leaving the wall unmanned long enough for some attackers to gain access to the inner village, while others placed enough explosives to take down the section of wall. She had been on the other side of the island, so it was the explosion that alerted her, and everyone else, to the threat.

And then it was over.

If the walls had held, or the initial infiltrating attack force been repelled, they probably could have withheld the siege for months. But as soon as the attackers set up a defensive perimeter around their access point, the tables had turned and Uzugakure was all but condemned.

With the risk of harming their comrades within the walls of their own village, the Uzumaki Ninjutsu specialists were unable to use their techniques to full effect. The Uzumaki who specialized in other areas, such as herself, as well as the Iga and the Koga Clans, put up a valiant effort, but against the overwhelming numbers of the Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa ninja there hadn't been any real hope. The fight had lasted for almost half a day, but eventually the village they were fighting for was little more than rubble, fire, and corpses.

She stopped to lean against a tree. The race to escape the ruins of Uzu had been a hectic one, so she wasn't sure what direction she had ended up taking. But given the size of the trunk she guessed that she was somewhere on the southern coast of Fire Country.

She knew that the surviving members of Iga and Koga had escaped, but most of the remaining Uzumaki had stayed to fight to the bitter end. She shed more tears as she thought of her mother and father. She may not have seen it, but she knew that they were dead, as were her cousins, aunts, uncles… She was already dreading the regrouping in a week's time, because that was when she would find out just how many had died. How few had survived.

She winced as she straightened up. She couldn't afford to stay in one place, especially not in her condition. A rustling made her spin around in time to see a blur curving towards her head.

There was a blunt 'thunk' of impact and her world went black.

LEMON WARNING: RAPE!

She groaned pitifully as she woke up but instantly regretted it. Her head ached. Her throat ached. Her breasts ached. Her stomach ached. Her legs ached. She halfheartedly tried to find a part of her body that didn't ache. She winced and clucked her tongue at the awful taste in her mouth as she blearily opened her eyes, her sleep clogged vision dull and unfocused. A soft gust of wind blow over her. She froze.

She was naked.

All traces of tiredness vanished as fear sent a burst of adrenalin through her bloodstream. She tried to get up, but the heavy weight of chakra cuffs pulled her back to the ground, making the metal restraints that pinned her arms behind her back dig painfully into her skin. She grunted and tried again more slowly, but froze when she both saw and felt a trail of white and red liquids oozing from between her legs.

Her mind came screeching to a halt as the implications sunk in. Despite being in her late teens she had never so much has been on a date before. The thought, and evidence, that she had lost her virginity in her sleep was horrifying. She started to tremble when she got a sinking feeling as to why her throat was soar, and what the unpleasant taste in her mouth was.

"Well well well boys! Look who's finally woken up!"

She twisted her head around in a panic, trying to locate the source of the jeering voice. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw a small campfire behind her, dug into a pit so as not to draw attention from patrolling squads, and a team of three Shinobi and one kunoichi sitting around it. Her eyes darted around as she struggled to get free.

From the trees that surrounded the clearing she could tell that they were still in Fire Country, but nothing more precise than that. The symbols on the metal plates of their forehead protectors indicated that her captors were from Kumo. From their somewhat torn clothes and the few wounds she could see she guessed that they had been part of the assault on her village.

Rage bubbled up inside her at the thought of all the people these four could have killed. Uzu-nin, friends, maybe even family. In a rage, she found the strength to shift to her side and pass her cuffed wrists under her bum, curling her legs up enough that she managed to get her hands in front of her. Just as she was about to charge blindly a large fist slammed into her face and sent her sprawling on her back, fresh blood dribbling from her now split lip.

She glared up at her attacker angrily. He was tall, over six foot, and very muscular. He wasn't quite 'dark skinned', but he was dark enough that it couldn't be put down to a good suntan. His hair, by contrast, was shock white and cropped short. His eyes were a dark stormy blue. If the situation had been different, very different, she would have found him rather handsome. But as it was, all she saw was his hungry, perverted leer he raked his eyes up and down her naked form.

He licked his lips lustfully as he swaggered towards her, unfastening his pants as he went. She hopped to her feet but before she could do anything more she found herself roughly pinned to a tree with her bound hands held above her head and only the tips of her toes touching the grassy forest floor.

He laughed loudly, his face close enough to hers that she could feel his hot breath prickling her skin. "Where do you think you're going you lil' bitch?"

She writhed and kicked out ineffectively, her sore muscles not generating enough strength to harm him. A hard punch to the gut slammed her back against the tree but she kept struggling despite the sting of her open wound. Another punch made her grimace and falter slightly as she tried to force him away from her. A third punch forced the air from her lungs and made her body go limp, stars danced across her vision as pain lanced through her body.

The Kumo kunoichi scowled in distaste. "Can you cut that out? You've been fucking her at every stop for the last three days already, haven't you had enough yet?"

He laughed as he finally got his erect cock out and rubbed it roughly against the entrance to his captive's womanhood. "Why the hell would I want to stop? With all the shit we went through to catch an Uzumaki alive I think we deserve a bit of a reward right guys?"

The other two men of the group chuckled and grinned perversely, obviously thinking back to the 'reward' they had enjoyed not so long ago. "Besides… Raikage-sama will start her on a breeding program the second we get her back home! He's not going to care if we get a bit of a head start."

The kunoichi scowl deepened. "Whatever! Just keep the fucking noise down! I don't want some damned Konoha-nin creeping up on us because you three were busy rutting your brains out!"

He clucked his tongue angrily, his good mood ruined by his female team mate's interruption. He turned back to the slim red head he held pinned against the tree and smirked evilly.

Her eyes widened in shock as he slammed his hips forwards, ramming his cock all the way into her vagina. Despite the total lack of arousal, the copious amount of semen that had already been injected into her while she was unconscious prevented any resistance to the harsh penetration. Without a moment's pause he started sawing in and out of her brutally, scraping her butt against the rough bark it was pressed to.

Her mouth opened wide to scream out in pain as her vaginal walls were stretched beyond anything she had ever consciously experienced. Before she could gather even a quarter lung full of air he blocked off her supply by crushing his lips into hers. She tried to twist away, but her upraised arms on either side of her head severely restricted her movements. She was forced to endure as his meaty tongue invaded her mouth, the salty aftertaste of whatever he had eaten for his meal stinging her painfully as it rubbed into her split lip.

She tried to stay strong as she struggled feebly against his grip, but with each thrust of his cock she could feel the foreign fluids, in both her womb and her bowels, churning around messily and driving the horror of her situation deeper into her mind.

Tears ran down her face, spilling out of her clenched eyes as he started moaning into her mouth. His hips blurred as he picked up his pace to an even faster one, using chakra to enforce his muscles. Blood smeared the bark as the constant grating bit into the soft flesh of her butt cheeks.

She struggled harder, trying to get her legs up between them but, much to her dismay, that only made her vaginal muscles clamp and clench around the invading member, making him grunt in pleasure at the increased tightness.

"Aah… fucking… shit yeah! You love this don't you bitch? That's right! Fucking clamp down on my hard fucking cock!"

With her mouth free from his she gasped for breath, shuddering as she was finally able to draw a full breath and air filled her lungs. Still recovering, she was unable to muster the strength to react as she felt his cock swell and shoot short spurts of cum into her already filled tunnel.

Through her tear blurred eyes, she was vaguely aware of the other two walking towards them…

LEMON END

0°0°0°0°0°0

Natsuko recoiled in disgust. Loud retching sounds carried across her mindscape as she sat on her hands and knees, dry heaving from the memories that had just been forced through her mind.

Kushina dashed over to her, uncertain of what had happened. One moment they were talking and the next her daughter was a shivering mess. Since she had had her head turned the other way at the time she had no idea what had provoked the change.

She placed a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Natsuko-chan what's wrong? What happened?"

Natsuko flinched back from the contact as flashes of her rape… her mother's rape… their rape, passed through her head. She breathed in deep panting gasps as she tried to calm herself. It was just a memory, only a memory. And not even a complete one.

But the feel of that vile creature moving inside her was searing itself into her very soul. It felt so wrong, as if she had betrayed her brother's trust, even though she knew that he wouldn't see it that way.

She remembered her mother's words and an idea sprung to her. She lunged at the base of the sakura tree and pressed her palm firmly against it sending out a plea for her brother, her lover, her Naruto, to cleanse her of the unwelcome memory.

Kushina removed her hand from her daughter's shoulder but delicately took her hand instead, tracing small circles with the pad of her thumb to help her calm down from whatever was bothering her. She blinked in surprise when the blonde suddenly reached out and touched the base of the tree they were sitting under but held firm nonetheless.

Her jaw dropped a little when dozens, if not hundreds of the soft pink petals rained down on them. The petals converged around the two Uzumaki females, landing delicately on their skin with each one bringing a single memory of Natsuko's time with her brother. Joking. Spending time together. But mostly…

Sex.

Lots and lots and lots of it.

Within seconds Kushina slumped to her side, eyes rolled to the back of their sockets, droll pooling from the corner of her mouth, and her face stuck in an expression of unearthly bliss.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Shizune gasped in horror as she saw her friend take the lethal blow. She waited for a moment, hoping to see the headless body disappear in a cloud of smoke, proving that it was nothing more than a Shadow Clone, but it didn't happen.

She felt unbridled anger rise from the pit of her gut as she heard some of the fools in the crowd start cheering the blasted Uchiha for ridding them of the Demon Brat. If she had had any hesitation in leaving Konoha, which she hadn't, then it most certainly would have died out after hearing their cries of joy.

She looked to her side when she heard a faint whimpering and flinched back slightly when she saw that it was Ayame. As not only a kunoichi, but an experienced medical ninja, Shizune had seen a lot of gore. So the sight of a brutally decapitated body didn't really bother her. For her it was the fact that it was a friend who had died that made it hard. For a civilian however… a cold shiver ran down her spine as she briefly contemplated how horrifying it must be for the Ramen Waitress to see her close friend die, let alone in such a manner.

She turned her attention to Naruto, dreading the looks of horror, grief, anger, helplessness, and all the other expressions she could only imagine were running through his head.

He was smirking.

She blinked a few times and actually had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. It wasn't a vicious smirk that hinted at a plan coming to fruition, nor an evil smirk that promised a long and painful revenge. It was a slight twitching of the corner of his lips, translating, if she had to guess, an unconcerned amusement.

She stared at him in shock, appalled at his lack of reaction. "Naruto?"

Naruto tilted his head towards his newly met friend but was taken aback by her scandalized expression and the tears that seemed to be gathering in her eyes. He looked to Ayame and noted that she already had tears running down her cheeks and an expression that made him think she was going into shock.

His expression changed to one of worry as he leaned towards them. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

Shizune looked back to the arena and Naruto followed her gaze, his face shifting back into a smirk as his eyes fell upon his sister's headless body standing in the middle on the stadium.

'It's taking a while for it to grow back… but then again, different parts of the body take different time to recover and I suppose the nature of the wound doesn't help. The electricity of the attack probably cauterized her neck, so it has to destroy the damaged tissue before replacing what's missing.'

He snorted in amusement as he waited for things to unfold, already looking to the Kage Booth since he didn't want to miss their expressions when Natsuko re-grew her head.

His eyes widened in understanding.

He spun to face the two understandably, now that he thought about it from their point of view, distraught women beside him.

"Natsuko-chan's fine!" He hurried to reassure them. "She's going to be fine! That's not the sort of wound that can kill her."

He stood and placed a comforting hand on each of them. "Look it'll heal up any moment now."

True to his words, and to the shock and amazement of all present, Natsuko's head started reforming before their very eyes. First the top of her spine, then the base of her skull started to take shape even as the neck muscles knitted themselves back into existence, within a matter of seconds.

He grinned at the startled looks on the spectators' faces. As Natsuko rolled her shoulders and cricked her neck. He gave the two girls a gentle pat on the back and sat back down.

'Let's see what she's got in store for him now.'

0°0°0°0°0°0

Tsunade gaped. When Sasuke's blow landed she had expected Natsuko to evade with a combination of Shadow Clone and Substitution, or maybe even a Genjutsu or secret techniques that she had developed. But what Natsuko had done was beyond all her expectations.

From Jiraya's expression it was obvious that the Kyuubi couldn't provide that level of regeneration. She knew for a fact that her own Creation Rebirth jutsu couldn't do what she'd just seen, and it was considered the absolute pinnacle of medical Ninjutsu. She had no idea what had just happened or, more importantly, how it had happened.

She turned in her chair. "Kakashi? Hiashi? What do you see?"

Kakashi spoke without facing her, his Sharingan eye still fixed on his ex-student as she turned to face Sasuke. "I have no idea what she did, but her chakra color changed. most of her body stayed the same shade of grey, but when her head… for a moment it went black, pure black, and the burnt tissue seemed to just vanish. Then it went white, with a slight tint of blue, and moments later her head was completely healed. I… I can't explain it."

"Fuinjutsu." Everyone turned to Hiashi as he spoke in his stoic voice, his active Byakugan also remaining trailed on Natsuko. "Hatake-san's observations were correct, but my eyes also saw a large amount of sealing kanji embedded within the chakra that… restored… Uzumaki's head. I am not surprised that he did not see them, they were so small that only the superior eyes of the Hyuuga would be able to detect them. I admit to not being a seal master but, despite the fact that I can barely even see it, the array in question is by far the most complex and… intricate… that I have ever laid eyes upon."

Jiraya frowned skeptically. "What of the Eight Trigrams Seal? Do you see any trace of it or any activity around it? If this new seal is as complicated as you're implying, then the interaction between the two could have disastrous results."

Hiashi's face remained stony despite the mild slight on his Bloodline. "There is no trace whatsoever of the Eight Trigrams Seal… nor of the Kyuubi's youki."

Jiraya turned back to the arena, muttering so that only Tsunade could hear him. "I don't get it. I can sense that the Kyuubi's youki is still there." He closed his eyes and she knew that he was sensing out with one of his Sage abilities. "I can barely make it out under all her chakra, her reserves are monstrous, beyond anything I've ever sensed before… even Hoshigaki can't compare to this. But the Fox's youki, it feels… different."

Tsunade leaned a bit closer to him, keeping her voice low when she saw Koharu stealing suspicious glances at them. "What do you mean different?"

Jiraya's frown deepened. "It has almost the same signature as her chakra. If it wasn't for the potency of the youki I probably wouldn't be able to tell the two apart." He shook his head disbelievingly. "I have no idea what she's done to her seal. Even if she had access to the Key to separate the Kyuubi's will from its power, which she doesn't, it wouldn't change the youki's signature to match hers."

"Are you sure?" The blonde Hokage asked. "Maybe her brother did something. Kushina was skilled in Fuinjutsu, she could have taught him enough that he modified Natsuko's seal."

Jiraya shook his head dismissively. "She was good. Maybe even a bit better than me. But the brat was what, eight years old when she died? She wouldn't have had time to teach him that level of Fuinjutsu and even if she had, he wouldn't be able to make another Key, which is the only way I can think of this happening. I'll summon Gerotora later to make sure." He paused for a moment, then continued at a normal volume, no longer worried about being overheard. "She's going to win this fight."

Tsunade sighed, ignoring the spluttering indignation of the Civilian Council, as she looked down at the two combatants and nodded in disappointment. "She's been playing with him so far. She is obviously above his level of skill, and say what you will about him but Sasuke is a powerful Shinobi. I'm starting to understand how they took down some of the Akatsuki." She shoot him a sharp glare before turning back to the fighters. "You'd better make sure you win you stupid pervert! Don't go underestimating your opponent just because he's a brat!"

Jiraya scowled at her. "I know! Even if we can't use what's in Minato's Inheritance Scroll because of the protections, we can't run the risk of it falling in enemy hands. You shouldn't have taken this bet in the first place."

She clenched her fist tightly, struggling not to send him flying into a low orbit. "It's not like we had anything to lose. With the Daimyo having given them a full pardon we couldn't legally withhold her inheritance anyway." She paused in thought as a question she still wasn't sure of the answer to popped into her head. "Why did the Daimyo give them a pardon? He rarely takes much interest in how the village runs as long as it doesn't affect him. I don't think I've ever heard of him directly countering a Hokage's order."

Jiraya nodded sagely. "He was under pressure from the other Daimyos. Snow, Vegetable, Wave, Tea… the list goes on. It really is amazing how many high ranking people's lives the Gaki has changed." He chuckled softly. "If she ever wants to build her own village she's already got the alliance part in the pock…"

His voice trailed off, eyes widening as he took in his own words. Tsunade reacted in a similar fashion. She almost sprained her neck as she twisted her head towards him, shock painted all over her face as she whispered once again.

"You've got to be kidding me! You think she's trying to found her own village?"

He shook his head and recomposed himself. "No, it's not likely. Building a Shinobi village isn't something that goes unnoticed. The only exception was Sound, and that's because there isn't an actual village, just a load of hidden bases. If they were trying to build a village they would need a lot of money, building materials, workforce, all that. There's no way that that sort of activity could go unnoticed."

Tsunade let out the breath she had been holding. While a new Shinobi village probably wouldn't pose much of a threat, it would complicate an already delicate situation. The Akatsuki was the immediate problem, but it was far from being the only one. Stone and Cloud were always looking to increase their influence and would have no problem going to war over it at the first opportunity. Sand was still an ally, but it was a very strained agreement and it wouldn't take much to break it off. Then of course there was Orochimaru who was probably coming up with plans for Konoha's destruction on a daily basis. A new village could provide the little tip of the scales that would send everything down a very slippery slope.

She shook off the troublesome thoughts and redirected her attention to the fight. Her eyes widened. "Sweet Kami…"

0°0°0°0°0°0

Natsuko kept a mocking grin on her face as her opponent gaped at her, but in truth her mind was on something totally different.

The conversation she had just had in her mindscape.

'I've got to tell Onii-chan as soon as possible.' The grin turned a little goofy in the afterglow of reliving so many… fun memories simultaneously. 'Well… maybe not everything.'

A girlish giggle escaped her lips. She had pulled out of her subconscious as soon as she re-emerged from the deluge of sakura petals, but not before she got a good view of her mother's dreamy expression. For Natsuko, reliving over a year's worth of almost daily mind-blowing sex had been intense. For Kushina it had been almost debilitating.

Natsuko had the feeling that there would be a long family discussion in the near future.

She focused back on Sasuke and lifted an eyebrow when she saw that he was still standing there staring at her. The eyebrow rose a little higher when she took in his Level Two Cursed Seal Form. Or rather, the spectators' lack of reaction to said form.

She pushed the thoughts aside and looked down at her Training Seal. She focused her chakra on it and the counter dropped straight down to zero. She tensed and relaxed her muscles a few times to get a better feel for the sudden loss of weight and restriction, making Sasuke snap out of his daze and glare at her as he prepared for the 'next round'.

"I don't know what kind of trick that was loser, but don't think it'll work twice! I'll show you the might of the Uchiha!"

She snorted but didn't comment aloud. 'It'll be over before you can do a damned thing Uchiha.'

Before she even finished formulating the thought she dashed forwards. A relatively slow widening of his eyes told her that his Sharingan could still see her movements but the hasty and, in her opinion, clumsy defensive posture he adopted made it obvious that his body couldn't keep up.

Easily getting under his guard, she sent a sharp right jab to his solar plexus before following into a left sweep kick that connected to the side of his knee. He twisted into the air, but before his momentum could carry him far Natsuko set him straight with a low left hook to the liver.

Sasuke's vision started to waver and his hold on his transformation slipped under the brutal precision of the blows. He saw her right elbow coming towards him but was unable to react as it smashed against his temple with a sickening crack. As he fell into unconsciousness, he felt a last surge of anger ripple through him, his slowly spinning Sharingan having engraved the dobe's bored expression into his perfect Uchiha memory. A last thought drifted through his fading consciousness.

He would find the source of her power, and he would take it! After all… he was… an… Uchi… Uch…

Natsuko smirked as he fell to the ground in a boneless heap, his trademark scowl somehow staying in place. There was utter silence as she looked up to the Kage Booth. By their shocked expressions, even Tsunade and Jiraya were surprised by the abrupt and anticlimactic ending to the fight.

Not waiting for the winner announcement, she walked towards the private waiting area that her brother and friends were sitting in. She had to exercise every bit of self-control she possessed to not break into a flat-out run after what she'd found during her trip into her mindscape.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto looked up as his sister sauntered into the waiting area. She seemed calm on the surface, but after all the time he had spent with her he could tell that she was actually bursting with excitement over something. He spared a glance at Shizune and Ayame. They were still recovering from the recent presumed death of their friend, and apparently hadn't noticed that said friend had just entered the room.

He walked up to her with a small smirk. "Nice work… although I'm surprised you finished it so soon. You completely dropped your Training Seals after the head shot. Did he piss you off that much?"

Natsuko shook her head. "No! I was pulled into my mindscape."

A wide enthusiastic grin split her face and she looked around, to make sure there were no eavesdroppers, before rising up on tip toes to whisper in his ear. "Okaa-san was in there."

Naruto's eyes widened so much that they looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

He stared down at her in shock. "Okaa-san?…"

Her smiled dropped a little, taking in the mournful tone of his voice. It was rare to see her brother's composure slip. Except in bed of course. That though quirked the corners of her lips back up a little and she almost thought that she could feel a sense of agreement echoing back from their mother. She knew that the loss of their mother was a wound to her brother's heart that still hadn't healed, but hopefully that was a situation that would soon be resolved.

She nodded to him once. Slowly. "Yeah. I met her in my mindscape. That's why I finished the fight so fast. Our… conversation… was cut short when I was pulled back out, but now that I know she's there it shouldn't be too hard to speak to her again. If you do the same we can get going and I'll give you the full story when we get back to Uzu. We can always visit our other potential allies later."

Naruto frowned slightly, but nodded. "In that case, it might be a good idea for you pop up to the Kage Booth so that you can take the scroll as soon as I win. I won't be long."

He walked out.

Natsuko turned to her friends who were still huddled in a corner. Her eyebrows raised at their peculiar actions, wondering why they hadn't greeted her yet. She walked over.

"Hey! What's got you two all in a tizzy?"

Both older girls spun on their bench at the sound of their friend's voice. Shizune had been comforting Ayame after seeing the unexpected decapitation. Even after her head had healed, it was still a traumatizing sight for the Ramen girl. With their attention focused on each other, neither of the young women had noticed Natsuko's arrival or Naruto's subsequent departure.

Ayame's bloodshot eyes widened and she suddenly surged forwards, leaping at her 'little sister' figure and clutching her in a tight hug.

"Natsuko-chan!"

Natsuko blushed, remembering what they had been doing just moments before her fight. She pushed it aside and directed her concern towards her tearful friend.

"Ayame-nee? What's wrong?"

Ayame glared up at her incredulously. "What's wrong? What's- You died is what's wrong! Do you have any idea what it was like for us to see you have your head torn off?"

Shizune grinned as Natsuko backed away from the angry waitress' scolding.

Looking for a way out, the female Uzumaki's eyes landed on the medic. "Shizune-nee! I was wondering…" She bit back a sigh of relief as Ayame stopped for her to speak. "I know that Konoha's full of Uchiha lovers, but how the hell is it that no one seemed to care when he used Orochimaru's Cursed Seal?"

Shizune gave a half shrug. "I'm not entirely sure. I had already split off from Tsunade by the time that became an issue, so I don't know what really happened. I long since stopped paying attention when people started talking about anything that concerns him. There's only so much a girl can stand to hear about the greatness of the Uchiha before she goes crazy."

Ayame sat back on the bench, pulling Natsuko down between her and Shizune. "Actually… Jiraiya wanted to have it sealed off but the Uchiha complained, saying that he needed the Seal's power to kill his brother. Then the Council stepped in and pulled weight, saying 'Uchiha-sama will use Orochimaru's power for the good of Konoha', or whatever bullshit they use to justify their crap. Apparently he uses it all the time on missions."

Natsuko and Shizune stared owlishly at her.

"What! I'm a waitress! Nobody pays attention to me when I'm washing dishes or cleaning the counter surface, so they talk about all sorts of things. I swear, if you want to gather information on people's lives you should just start a chain of Ramen Bars…"

Her voice withered off.

Shizune and Ayame looked at the dreamy expression on Natsuko's face with a mixture of amusement and dread. They had the distinct impression that Natsuko now had a new objective to reach, on top of founding her own hidden village.

Natsuko shook her head to regain focus. "Okay girls something's come up!" She grinned when she saw that she had their attention. "We got some last minute information so we'll be leaving as soon as possible. Naruto-kun is going to finish his fight quickly and I'm going to go up to the Kage Booth so that I can collect the scroll as soon as possible. Teuchi-ossan and the clones have probably finished packing by now, so I'd like it if you could join up with them and then wait by the village gates."

She was both surprised and pleased when both of her friends obeyed and followed her instructions without question or hesitation. She hadn't meant for it to sound like an order, but in hindsight she had to admit that it probably had. Her brother always listened to her opinions, but this was the first time that she felt as if she was… in charge. It was an oddly satisfying experience.

She waited until they had left before destroying the seal tags that maintained the Privacy Jutsu and leaving the waiting area.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto took his time as he walked through the corridors towards the arena floor. He could have ran, or jumped straight down from the viewing area, but despite wanting to be expedient he felt the need to think things through. He knew it was important to keep a clear mind during battle, especially against an opponent of Jiraya's caliber, and thoughts of his dearly departed mother were one of the few things that could effectively cloud his judgment. So he walked slowly, giving himself the time he needed to reflect on the most recent development.

His sister had spoken to his mother in her mindscape. The obvious deduction was that she was an imprint conserved from the Eight Trigrams Seal. The problem with that was that it simply wasn't possible.

'I was with her during the sealing. So she couldn't have been there to layer the chakra required for the imprint's creation.'

His steps faltered for a moment.

'In fact I think she died at the same time as the Kyuubi's youki disappeared. Which would be the exact moment of the sealing.'

He rubbed his chin as he walked down the last set of steps.

'Maybe the imprint's creation was spontaneous? She was holding Natsuko-chan before Minato stole her… if she took that opportunity to layer her chakra onto Natsuko's body, consciously or not, then that chakra could have been formed into an imprint at the time of the sealing. Still… if that were the case the imprint would have been formed without focus or intent. As a result it would be incredibly vague… more like a bundle of emotions rather than any intelligence or memories. But Natsuko gave the impression that they had an actual discussion, so that can't be right.'

He sighed as he walked into the arena. The mid-morning sunlight made him smile as it splashed over his face, he couldn't help but have a good feeling about this.

0°0°0°0°0°0

"Hello Tsunade-san."

Tsunade almost jumped out of her skin as Natsuko appeared in the chair Jiraya had occupied just moments earlier. She hadn't even sensed her arrival.

She stared at the girl as she lounged elegantly in the rather uncomfortable chair, an eyebrow quirked in restrained amusement.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now."

The blonde Kage's left eye twitched in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?"

Natsuko leaned into the chair's backrest and looked down to where her lover had just entered the arena.

She shrugged casually. "Well… originally Naruto-kun was going to take his time beating the old pervert to a pulp for lying about what happened to me after the sealing." She made a show of buffing her fingernails on the breast of her mini-T-shirt, making many of the surrounding males swallow deeply at the slight jiggling of her assets.

She held back a smirk. "Fortunately for him something came up, and we're in a bit of a hurry. So now Naruto-kun will just get it over with so that you can give us our winnings, and we'll be on our way."

She glanced lazily at the scroll displayed on a small ceremonial table in front of the Godaime Hokage.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow mockingly. "That's a bit cocky isn't it? Thinking he can just deal with a Sannin that easily."

Natsuko just shrugged again, as if indulging the questions of a stubborn child. "Naruto-kun has been hunting S-Rank Shinobi since he was ten years old. Not on a regular basis obviously, since there really aren't that many around, but you get my point."

She saw her ex-leader's unbelieving expression and sighed. "Fine don't believe me… Just keep that scroll handy and be ready to heal your team mate. I've got the feeling that he's going to be in a world of pain by the time this is over."

The last Senju still wasn't sure what to make of this new Natsuko. She didn't put much credence behind her estimation of her brother's skill. Kids always tended to overestimate themselves and Jiraya, for all his faults, was a very powerful Shinobi. She had no doubt that, in an all-out fight, he was the strongest of the Sannin by a good margin. While Natsuko's fight against Sasuke had been surprisingly one sided, the thought that the other Uzumaki would do the same thing with Jiraya was simply ludicrous.

She carefully ignored the small voice of uncertainty in the back of her head.

The one that always spoke up whenever she was about to lose big time.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto looked around the arena critically, taking in the damage that remained from Natsuko's fight. There wasn't much, some scorch marks and a few relatively shallow foot trenches. There was a number of kunai scattered around, one of which he recognized as Natsuko's, but nothing that would affect his fight.

Especially since it was going to be a short one.

The problem with many high level Shinobi was that, during a fight, they had a tendency to slowly build up to their maximum ability, starting off at an 'average' level and slowly increasing it until they overcame their foe. From what Naruto had observed, they did so with the misbegotten impression that it allowed them to hide their true strength and would give them an advantage over their enemies.

He snorted quietly.

Most ninja were incredibly short minded. They just didn't seem to realise that the longer you fought, the more the opponent learnt about you. Taijutsu style, Elemental Affinity, Genjutsu capability… The longer the fight, the more was revealed. Knowing that your enemy tended to dodge to the left rather than to the right could be the deciding factor to the battle. Naruto's philosophy was to use whatever he needed to end the battle before it really got going, before his enemy could pick up any of the habits he hadn't gotten rid of. That was how he had stayed off of everyone's radar for so long. No witnesses, no torn up battle fields, just a dead opponent and a collected bounty.

Overkill was better than 'no-kill'.

That was why he was so fond of Blood Chakra, when properly wielded it was incredibly deadly and almost unstoppable. It was also perfect for what he had in mind for Jiraiya.

He sighed impatiently. 'Just as soon as the pervert shows his ugly face.'

As if in answer to his unspoken call, a large cloud of chakra smoke popped out some twenty feet in front of him. The cloud cleared to show a large orange toad with Jiraiya on its head, standing with one leg raised up and both arms thrown to the opposite side.

He started hopping from side to side. "Hailing from th…"

Naruto immediately blocked out the self-proclaimed Super Pervert's self-introduction and looked down at the Training Seal on his forearm. The counter showed that he was currently at Level 99, but then again he had been at that level for a few years now. Level 99 was the maximum for his training method, the perfect balance of strength, speed, flexibility, and endurance. From this point, if he were to increase his training, he would have to specialize. Such as augmenting his gravity training to increase strength, but at the price of bulking up and losing speed. Or raising his resistance training to increase his speed, but at the cost of compacting his muscles and losing endurance. It was all a matter of balance, and he had reached the point where he couldn't gain some without losing some.

With a small pulse of chakra the counter dropped to 0. He tensed and relaxed his muscles a few times to get them used to the change, then simply stared at his opponent as he finished making a spectacle of himself.

Jiraiya finished his dance with a flourish, but carefully hid his disappointment at the kid's lack of reaction. While most people thought that his self-introductions were just a byproduct of his eccentricities, which was partly true, they were also a good way to judge someone's basic character. He usually got one of two reactions. Either the person thought that he wasn't taking them seriously and charged head on, or they took him for an idiot and let their guard down. While he hadn't been expecting anything too extreme, the utter lack of response was frustrating.

He dismissed his toad and grinned widely. "So! You ready to do this brat? You sure you don't want to give up while there's still time?"

Naruto opened his mouth to give a scathing remark before shaking his head. He bit back the small rant he was tempted to give and looked pointedly at the Kage Booth, smirking slightly when he saw his sister sitting next to the Hokage and completely ignoring the angry glares she was getting from the Council.

Tsunade got to her feet and the cheers from the spectators quieted down enough for her amplified voice to carry clearly to each corner of the stadium.

"Now for the second fight. Jiraiya of the Sannin, Toad Sage of Konoha versus Uzumaki Naruto."

The cheers at Jiraiya's name were replaced by loud murmurs at the announcement of the second Uzumaki. There were a select few who could vaguely remember him from their time in the academy, but for the most part he was unknown.

Tsunade's hand rose above her head as she prepared to give the 'Go'. "Once again the fight is until incapacitation or surrender. Killing counts as a loss. Ready? Fight!"

As soon as the signal was given the crowd went wild. Civilians were screaming themselves hoarse in anticipation of seeing the legendary Sannin's strength and Shinobi were watching intently eager to learn from the battle.

Jiraiya slipped into an advance Taijutsu stance.

Naruto just looked at him with a blank expression. He turned his head slightly, glancing up to where his sister was grinning down at him.

Jiraiya almost scoffed at the rookie mistake. Taking your eyes off of the enemy was a sure fire way to get yourself killed. He immediately dashed forwards, using the kid's distraction to close the distance between them with his fist reared back for a hard punch.

His entire body seized up.

Cold, hard Killer Intent enveloped the village, sparing only four people from its icy embrace. Jiraiya stood unable to move as his body bowed to a primal instinct of ineluctable fear, screaming at him to flee but stopping him from so much as twitching a muscle.

Completely taken by surprise, it didn't even occur to him to flare his chakra to shake off the oppressive feeling of unavoidable death.

His heartbeat sounded in loud erratic thumps that echoed deafeningly in his ears. The world around him seemed to throb in concordance with his bloodstream creating a nauseating dizziness to rise in his throat.

His vision tunneled in on the giant of a man standing in front of him, zooming in and out of focus.

He heaved in a deep breath.

It was over.

Before he could properly recover Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock, finding Naruto standing right in front of him with his sword drawn and pressed to his neck, a trickle of blood seeping from the razor thin cut it had created.

Barely holding back a startled cry he leapt backwards. With his many decades of experience finally kicking in he landed in a defensive stance, his expression showing a new level of seriousness as he realized the true level of the threat.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Natsuko was stuck between an amused smirk and a worried frown as she watched the perverted Sage take control of the momentum of his hasty retreat and land on his feet in a ready stance.

She gazed around and chuckled softly when she saw that quite a few of the spectators were still recovering from the wave of killer intent her brother had generated. The others were out for the count. They were lucky that he had only enhanced it by infusing it with his chakra in a small perimeter around him, otherwise there would have been more than a handful of heart attacks. As it was only Jiraiya had felt the full brunt of the passive attack.

Nonetheless, with the general shock it had created, she doubted that anyone but her had been in any condition to notice the red glow that surrounded Naruto's sword as he made the small incision on Jiraiya's neck. That was what worried her. She recognized the usage of Blood Chakra, and was starting to ask herself if Naruto was going to forego their plans and just kill the guy.

"What the fuck was that?"

She ignored Tsunade's incredulous gasp and shifted in her chair, taking a better position in case she had to act.

If Naruto did lose his cool they would have to fight their way out of Konoha, and with at least a quarter of the Shinobi force being present in the stadium that would mean one hell of a fight. If that happened, her position inside the Kage Booth would prove a blessing since she would be able to take out some of the most powerful adversaries before they had time to react.

She sighed. 'I hope you know what you're doing Naruto-kun.'

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto waited patiently for Jiraiya to recover. While the man was doing an excellent job of hiding it, the red headed male Uzumaki could tell that he was still a bit shaken.

Finally getting fed up with the wait he sheathed his black katana back on his shoulder. "You should give up Jiraiya. I've already won this match."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes angrily, though it was mostly directed at himself since he knew he should have been more careful. "You might have gotten a good cut brat, but that's not enough to count for a win! I don't know what sort of trick that was, but don't think it'll work twice!"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond then frowned. He had an odd sense of deja-vu.

Then it hit him.

He chuckled. "Did you actually just paraphrase the Uchiha runt? Don't you have any shame?"

Jiraiya flushed then growled. "I don't know what you're talking about! Now get ready!"

Naruto smirked evilly as his adversary flipped through a series of hand seals with very impressive speed, finishing on a Tiger Seal.

"Fire Relea… GRAAAAG!"

Jiraiya fell to the floor with blood pouring out of his eyes, nose and ears. The entire stadium, apart from the two Uzumaki, watched in morbid fascination as the Sannin twitched in pain. His skin slowly turned redder and redder until tiny beads of blood were seeping out of the pores of his skin.

Naruto walked up to him and, with a small kick, flipped him on his back. The blood had stopped seeping out, but from the small puddle that was forming it was obvious that there had been a lot of loss.

This was, perhaps, Naruto's favorite blood related jutsu.

By inserting Blood Chakra into the bloodstream through an open wound he could gain temporary control of it. He would then have the blood force its way out, ripping the infected opponent apart in the process and, if needed, collecting the blood for further use. In Jiraiya's case he had simply reduced the amount of Blood Chakra he inserted so that, while it did do a considerable amount of internal damage, it wasn't anything immediately life threatening.

He turned to the Kage Booth. "He's out!" He spoke calmly, using a bit of Wind Chakra to project his voice. "You should probably get him to a medic."

Tsunade quickly got to her feet and was about to jump down to her friend when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

Natsuko nodded her head towards the scroll. "I think you have to make the announcement Tsunade-san."

Anxious to see to her friend Tsunade barely thought as she picked up the scroll and thrust it to the girl. "Winner Uzumaki Naruto! Here take it!"

She then jumped down to the arena, hands glowing green as she started running diagnostic jutsu over Jiraiya's chest.

Natsuko looked over the scroll carefully, analyzing the kanji of the seal to make sure that it was a blood storage inheritance scroll and not some sort of trick, before pocketing it. She smiled as Naruto appeared next to her in a blur.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "We good to go?"

She nodded. "Yep! It's authentic! Heheh… I even recognize Minato's hand writing."

"Okay then let's…"

"Stop right there!"

They turned to see Danzo and the Council Elders standing behind them. It was Danzo who had spoken.

He slammed his cane down in what they supposed was a 'I'm in control' manner. "Put the scroll back. This charade has gone on long enough. You will leave, but the scroll will stay where it belongs. In Konoha!"

Curious to see how things would play out, the Shinobi Council remained silent. While they may disapprove of the underhanded tactic, they could also understand where the three veterans were coming from since none of them wanted to see secrets of their Legendary Yondaime leave the village. Of course, that fact that Natsuko had already demonstrated an extraordinary mastery of the Flying Thunder God made that somewhat of a moot point.

Both Uzumaki gave him a blank stare.

Naruto made a mild sneer, making it seem as if he was looking down at some undesirable bug. "We had an agreement with your leader old man. Reneging on it would be… unwise."

A collective shiver ran down their spines as he added a short burst of killer intent with the last word. While it was nowhere near as heavy as the previous one, it was an uncomfortable reminder of how easily he had beaten their strongest Shinobi.

Something none of them had quite come to terms with yet.

Koharu glared at him. "Be respectful of your betters boy, we will not stand for your disrespect! As for the… agreement, the Council did not Officially ratify it. As such we are not held to it."

Seeing that his sister was about to argue, Naruto placed a hand on the small of her back. "Natsuko-chan I'll finish up here, why don't you go ahead?"

She looked into his eyes questioningly and nodded slowly. "Okay, see you in a bit."

She kissed him on the cheek and disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Naruto turned back to the Council members with a pleasant smile on his face while letting out a small amount of killer intent, just enough to make them all nervous.

His tone was ice cold. "Seventeen, hmm… almost eighteen years ago, Minato stole my sister from our mother's arms so that he could sacrifice her for your… pathetic… village." They bristled at his words but an increase in the killer intent stayed their tongues.

"The very next day Jiraiya and Sarutobi used a dead child's corpse to create a Dead Clone Seal, tricking me into believing that my last family was dead. When I left this… pathetic… village, they sent Hunter-nin after me, despite the fact that I wasn't a Konoha Shinobi. I suppose that that should have made me realise that something was wrong but what can I say? I was an eight year old emotional wreak.

"I spent the next thirteen years mourning her. Paying homage to a corpse that wasn't hers. So you can understand that I have very little tolerance for Konoha. I could have killed Jiraiya a few moments ago, the only reason I didn't is because I don't want the Fourth Great War to start… Not just yet… But I swear, if you give me a reason I will drown this pathetic village in a sea of blood."

His killer intent rose a little more as he stared them in the eye with a frosty glare.

"Just give me a Kami-damned reason…"

Silence reigned as he let them take in his words and his 'not-so-subtle' threat.

When he was sure that they understood he turned and vanished in a burst of speed. He knew that they would do something stupid eventually. He was counting on it.

How else was he supposed to rightfully get his pound of flesh. All he needed was a reason.

Chapter 10: …and Rebirth.

A deep frown creased Jiraiya's brow as he glared up at the white hospital ceiling. He was alone in the silence of the private room, but even if someone had been there with him it would have passed unnoticed underneath the several layers of bandages that were wrapped around him like a mummy.

The frown grew deeper. 'I lost… badly.'

The loss in itself wasn't such a big thing. He had lost many battles in his long, for a Shinobi, lifetime. He had been the Dead Last of his graduating class and, for a long time, the weakest link of his Genin team. But he had trained harder and longer than genius Orochimaru and princess Tsunade and, in the end, his continuous efforts, his tears cried, his sweat poured, and his blood spilt, had made him the strongest of the Sannin.

He had come a long way since the battle against Hanzo of the Salamander, and his confidence in his own strength was well earned. He wasn't one to overestimate his abilities, time and again he had seen what that could cost. Neither was he one to underestimate his foes, he knew that that could be just as dangerous.

He had known that the brat, Uzumaki Naruto, was a powerful Ninja. Despite his young appearance the boy oozed a casual self-confidence that couldn't be faked. Even with his connection to Nature Energy Jiraiya hadn't been able to get a decent reading on his chakra levels.

He had of course heard, through his Spy Network, of the Bloody Storm and the Burning Wave, and of how the two mysterious bounty hunters had been carving their way through the Black Market Bingo Book. After seeing Natsuko's battle against the Uchiha runt it wasn't hard to guess their identities. Despite his awareness however, he had been totally unprepared for the overwhelming force he had been met with.

He hadn't intended to go all out, especially not from the start, but he still couldn't believe that he had been caught so thoroughly by surprise. When Naruto had unleashed his killing intent it had completely paralyzed him. It was like a well-used Kanashibari no jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique) but on an entirely different level.

He shivered as a cold trickle ran down his spine. He had never felt killing intent like that before. Not from Orochimaru, not from Sarutobi, not from Hanzo, not even from the damned Kyuubi itself!

The thing about killer intent, was that it used the victim's fear against them. If Jiraiya had been prepared for it, he knew that it would have been considerably less effective. He promised himself not to make that mistake again.

Then there was the jutsu that Naruto had used. Jiraiya hadn't even seen it connect. He had felt a slight prick at his neck when the Uzumaki's sword had cut him, but it had been so superficial that it could barely even qualify as a wound. It had been enough to draw blood, but nothing more.

And yet… it had led to the single most painful experience of his life.

Jiraiya had felt the effects of all five elements. He had been shocked by Lightning, burnt by Fire, cut by Wind, smothered by Water, and pierced by Earth. But none of them could compare to the terrifying agony that Naruto's jutsu had put him through. It had felt as if his body was trying to turn inside out. His world had flashed between red and white as pain and blood competed to flood his vision.

From what Tsunade had told him, the jutsu had already stopped its progress by the time she got to him. His blood had been forcing its way out of his body, abandoning capillaries, veins and arteries and pushing directly through his muscles and organs. He had only lost half a liter of blood, but it had done enough damage that he would be bed ridden for a week, despite Tsunade's care.

If the jutsu hadn't stopped its progress… He would be dead. It was as simple as that. A splat of blood on the stadium floor. Literally.

Another shiver ran down Jiraiya's spine. He had often been faced with death, it was part of being a Shinobi, and being a spy-master didn't make things easier. But there had always been an 'out'. No matter the odds, there had always been an escape and he had always found it and capitalized on it.

Except this time. This time he had been spared. Maybe it was because of the rules of the spar. Maybe it was because the Uzumaki wanted to prolong their revenge. One way or the other, Jiraiya knew that Naruto had spared him.

That terrified him.

He wouldn't acknowledge it. Nor would he admit to it if asked. And he certainly wouldn't let it affect him if, no… when it came time to fight. But Uzumaki Naruto scared him shitless.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door slammed open.

The Sanin almost groaned when he saw the Uchiha brat storm in as if he owned the place. He stopped next to the bed and thrust his hands forwards to show that he was holding a very familiar three pronged kunai.

Sasuke glared down at the bandaged man. "Teach me how to use this!"

Jiraiya blinked. "Where did you get that? Do you even know what it is?"

Sasuke scoffed. "The Dobe left it behind when she ran away. The idiot didn't even see me take it. Now, teach me!"

Jiraiya sighed loudly and spoke in a chastising voice. "Do you know what that is brat? That's a Flying Thunder God kunai. It's…"

The Uchiha interrupted him angrily. "Of course I know what it is! Do you think I would bother with it if it was just some trinket? Now teach me! I am an Uchiha! I deserve…"

"Will you shut up!" Jiraiya shouted. "Minato used hundreds of those kunai during the war, do you think he had time go around and pick them all up afterwards? Of course not! Everyone and their grandmother has a copy of that kunai locked up or sealed away somewhere! No one has ever been able to figure out how to use it. Your little eye tricks won't help you with this one Uchiha! Now get the hell out of my room!"

Sasuke glared at him before storming off. "I will learn how to use this! I'm an Uchiha! I deserve this power! I…"

"Get out!"

Jiraiya groaned in relief as the door slammed shut. It was bad enough to have the Council pester him to train the runt, but that he actually thought that he could learn the Flying Thunder God Technique…

'Bah! What an idiot!'

He shifted a bit to try and sooth his aching muscles.

'But that does bring back the question of how Natsuko learnt it. I doubt that her brother could have helped her… Well, now that they've got the Inheritance Scroll they'll have all the details they need. At least she has a good way to escape the Akatsuki when they come for her.'

0°0°0°0°0°0

As the sun moved past ten o'clock, a red breasted robin flew up to an open window of the Hokage Mansion. It perched its tiny feet on the sill and shuffled about a bit to find the best spot. Then it opened its little beak and took in a deep gulp of air as it prepared to regale the area with its bright morning song.

It promptly toppled over unconscious, swirls in its eyes, as its lungs were filled to the brim with noxious alcohol fumes.

Inside, surrounded by enough sake bottles to knock out a small army, tear tracks running down her cheeks, lay an unconscious, snoring, and heavily drunk Senju Tsunade.

Loosely clutched in her hand was a scrunched up letter, the last words of which were just barely legible.

…Goodbye.

Shizune.

If she had been conscious, and coherent, Tsunade might have noticed a tiny seal appear on green jewel of her grandfather's necklace, the one that Natsuko had thrown back at her. It gave off a few blood red pulses of chakra before fading back into invisibility, leaving the necklace with its usual appearance.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto frowned as he felt a faint presence at the border of his senses before it disappeared. This was the third time that he got the feeling, and while he had been willing to ignore it the first few two times, it was just getting bothersome now.

They were being followed. Or rather, they were being tracked.

It was only yesterday that he, Natsuko, Shizune, Ayame and Teuchi had departed from Konoha. There had been no problems, although he supposed that that wasn't too surprising given that everyone who could have caused them problems had been occupied at the Konoha Stadium.

The red haired Uzumaki still felt a bit stupid when he thought of the overly dramatic ultimatum that he had delivered to the Konoha Council, but he knew that it was necessary. It was easy to see that they were entirely too full of themselves, and that only an overwhelming fear for their lives would keep them in check.

For a while at least.

He hadn't been bluffing. If they became a nuisance he would carry out his threat. He wasn't a 'good' or 'kind' person, he didn't particularly care if a few hundred, or even thousand, 'innocents' got caught in the crossfire. As far as he was concerned, his family was more important than all the innocents in the world. On the other hand, he wouldn't go on a killing spree for no good reason. Despite the fact that they had made Natsuko's childhood miserable, if Konoha left them alone, then he would leave Konoha alone.

The only exceptions were Jiraiya and, to a lesser extent, Kakashi. He wouldn't go looking for them, but, the instant he got the opportunity, he would kill them.

Naruto sighed and looked at his companions. From the look on her face, he could tell that Natsuko had also senses that they were being followed, but Shizune didn't seem to be aware of it. Ayame and Teuchi, as civilians, obviously hadn't noticed.

He sighed again and tapped his sister on the shoulder. "I'll go take care of it. You keep moving, and if there's a problem get everyone out with your Flying Thunder God Technique. We don't want a hostage situation."

She nodded and brushed her hand against his before he jumped off into the trees.

When he was out of view, she turned back to the other travellers.

"What's going on?" Ayame asked her blonde haired friend.

"We're being followed. Probably by Konoha. Naruto-kun is going to check it out."

She didn't bother telling them that he would probably be having a blood bath while he was at it.

Shizune frowned. "I won't bother asking if he'll be alright on his own… Do you think they're coming after us because of me?"

Natsuko shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe. Or they might be trying to 'reclaim' the Inheritance Scroll. It doesn't matter either way. I doubt it'll happen, but if some of them manage to get past Naruto-kun and catch up to us, I'll use Flying Thunder God to get us directly to Uzu."

They nodded a bit nervously, and Teuchi shot her a perplex look. "Not that I'm complaining, but why don't we just do that now? Wouldn't it be easier and faster than walking there?"

Natsuko chuckled. "It would, but walking is much more fun." She grinned as they gave her disbelieving looks. "Trust me. The technique looks flashy, and it's very impressive and useful, but there's nothing exciting about it. It's a Space-Time jutsu that teleports you from one place to another. That's all there is to it. You're in one place, then you're in another. It's sort of fun the first few times, and it's very useful if you're in a hurry, but it gets sort of boring after a while."

They nodded in understanding, willing to accept her explanation. Natsuko didn't bother telling them that she had a more personal reason for not using the jutsu.

After the revelation of her conversation with their mother, she knew that Naruto would want some time to think things through. She doubted that it would take him more than a few days to come up with a good idea of what had happened, and how an imprint of Uzumaki Kushina had been conserved in her mindscape. But, even if he figured things out fast, the wait would be much more bearable if she had something to distract herself with.

The passing scenery for example.

After a few moments of silence, Ayame asked a question that had been bothering her. "Natsuko-chan, what are we going to do once we get to Uzugakure?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… You said that the construction was all done, but that there aren't any inhabitants yet, right? So what will we be doing in the meantime? There's not much point in opening a Ramen Bar if there aren't going to be any customers."

The female Uzumaki nodded. "There's still lots of stuff to do. Since you three will be the first inhabitants, you'll get to pick whatever house and shop you want, but you'll still have to set all your stuff up. We just built the main buildings and facilities so that people can do the rest of the designing as they see fit."

She turned to the Medic-Nin of the group. "Likewise, there are two hospitals, one on the surface and a bigger one in Deep Uzu, but we'll need you to have a look and see what needs to be done to improve them."

She faced back ahead and shrugged. "As for there not being any inhabitants… That's true. But we've already had discussions with the Land of Waves, so we'll probably be getting some visits from there. We'll be starting a Shinobi training program for the kids who are interested, so some of the families might even decide to move in and set up a new home in Uzu. Naruto has also been in contact with the surviving Clans of old Uzugakure, he sent a Tiger Summons to tell them that things were ready. I doubt that they'll all show up at once, but some of them will probably move in and send reports to the rest of their Clans."

Natsuko sighed tiredly. There was so much to do still. It took years to build a Shinobi Village, and normally there would be the issue of spies and saboteurs from the ones that already existed. The two Uzumaki had managed to bypass many of those problems by building everything themselves, but now that they had reached the recruitment part things would inevitably be going a lot slower.

"We also have to visit all the Villages and Lands that are likely to join our alliance. We were going to try and circle through them all in one go, but I'm not sure how that's going to work out now."

Shizune frowned. "You know… It's a great idea, but if this alliance you're creating gets too big the Major Villages might see it as a threat. I know that you and Naruto-san are powerful, so Uzu will be fine, but what if they attack one of the smaller Villages? Or invade one of the Lands that don't have an active Shinobi force? We don't have the manpower to defend against their superior numbers, and even with the Flying Thunder God Technique you can't be everywhere at once."

"Don't worry about that." Natsuko said. "Naruto-kun has an idea that will allow us, and all our allies, to pool our resources together and deploy them wherever they're needed. He's only explained the idea to me, I haven't actually seen it in action, and we weren't planning on using it just yet, but with what happened in Konoha we may have to push our plans forwards."

They all gave her a blank look.

She sighed. "Naruto-kun is an amazing seal master. Just because he doesn't use seals in battle, doesn't mean that he can't do some pretty awesome stuff. You'll see what I mean when you see the safety, environment, and maintenance seals that he's installed into the underwater part of Uzugakure. Likewise, just because he isn't interested in creating his own version of the Flying Thunder God Technique, doesn't mean that he hasn't looked into Space-Time Manipulation. He's developed a method that, while useless in one-on-one battle, is ideal for transporting soldiers or evacuating civilians."

The others could tell that they wouldn't be getting a more detailed answer from her, so they just kept walking.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto stopped in a denser part of the forest, with his chakra signature fully suppressed, and tried to get a lock on the pursuers. He sighed when he couldn't come up with anything and ran through the short series of hand seal for the Summoning Technique.

The smoke cleared to reveal his personal tiger summon, Kisa.

She tilted her head at him lazily. "Naruto-kun? What's up?"

Naruto grinned at the horse sized tigress and stroked her neck lovingly. "Someone's been tracking us. Natsuko's staying with her friends while I take care of the problem. Whoever it is has been staying at the edge of my range. I thought it was a Konoha team, but if that were the case I'm sure I would have sensed them already. As cliché as it sounds, whoever they are, they're good. I need you to hunt them down for me, if you don't mind."

In lieu of an answer, Kisa crouched low to the ground. She spread her senses out, searching for all hints of sound, scent, and chakra.

She sensed Naruto first. His steady, unvarying heartbeat and almost inaudible breathing. His familiar, pleasantly musky, scent and the lingering scent of his sister-mate, Natsuko. His massive, yet restrained, chakra reserves that had a feel that told her instincts that he was in prime health.

All around her she could sense the life of the forest, tall trees and burgeoning flowers, hopping rabbits and twittering birds.

A bit farther she sensed a group. She easily recognized Natsuko. Then there were another two, an aging male and a young female, who shared a similar broth-like scent. Finally there was another young female who smelt of antiseptic.

Finally, as she broadened her senses even more, she caught the scent of two others. They were stalking towards Natsuko's group, but were still closer to her and Naruto. One smelt of death and dried blood, and the other didn't have much of a scent at all.

Without warning, she shot off towards them, knowing that Naruto would have no problem following her. He wasn't as good-a-tracker as her, but he was more than competent when it came to the hunt. They dashed stealthily through the forest, keeping to the ground rather than taking to the trees like most ninja would.

She felt her prey slow down. She came to a stop, her eyes narrowed.

"Kisa? What's wrong?"

"They've sensed us. There are two of them. One is masking himself very well, both his scent and his chakra. I can sense that he's there, but it's faint. The other one sort of ruins it though, he's not putting any effort into stealth. I get the feeling that he's rabid, and just spoiling for a fight. They've both stopped. They're… waiting."

Naruto remained silent. If there were only two of them and they were good enough to hide, at least partially, from an expert tracker like Kisa, then it was very unlikely that they were from Konoha. That left only one answer that he could think of, Akatsuki.

"Naruto-kun… It's strange but one of them had five different chakras. There's one of each of the Main Elements, but they don't feel like they're from the same person."

He frowned, unsure of what that meant. He had a good working relationship with some well-placed Black Market informants, so he knew a lot about most of the notice worthy Shinobi from all nations, Minor and Major. That was why he had quite easily recognized Deidara and Sasori.

He couldn't think of anyone who fit the description that Kisa had given him.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Hidan stopped and stared over his shoulder at his money-hungry team-mate.

"The fuck you stopping for?"

Kakuzu ignored his partner's vulgar questioning with practiced ease. His partners never lasted long usually. He made sure of that. If they got on his nerves, or in the way of his money, he would kill them without a second's thought. If they were good, he would harvest their heart for when he next needed a replacement, and if they had a bounty on their head he would collect it.

With Hidan however, that wasn't an option. He had tried to kill the annoying religious freak more times than he cared to count, but he just wouldn't die. So, after a while, he had just given up and learnt to ignore the annoying quirks and bothersome habits of his Akatsuki partner.

Hidan, however, didn't like to be ignored. "Oi! What in Jashin-sama's name are you doing, sticking around like a sore dick? I thought you said we were catching up to them? Let's go get the Nine-Tail bitch already!"

Kakuzu turned back to him. "No need! They're coming to u…"

His sentence remained unfinished when he was forced to duck to avoid a horizontal swipe of a black bladed katana that almost took his head off.

Naruto landed a few feet behind Kakuzu but didn't let the near miss slow him down. He spun into a backwards sweep kick, and then made an upwards diagonal slash when his enemy jumped over it.

Kakuzu cursed when the blade sliced into his Akatsuki cloak, but managed to twist away from it and avoid being cut. He fell down with a heavy axe-kick that cracked the ground when it missed.

Naruto flipped back to dodge the descending heel, landed in a one-handed handstand, then flipped back to his feet. He immediately ducked as a three bladed scythe hurtled towards him.

He was caught off guard when the cable attached to the butt of the scythe pulled it back, bringing the deadly blades back at him. He bent backwards to avoid being decapitated, but was still nicked on the cheek. The wound healed over almost as fast as it was created.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

Hearing the jutsu called from a short distance behind him, Naruto acted on reflex and slammed his foot into the ground. A thick spike of metal, roughly a foot taller than him, shot up from the ground. Kakuzu's Lightning natured attack was drawn away from its intended target and into the spike, before being discharged into the ground.

Naruto leapt back, putting some distance between the two Akatsuki members so that he could see both of them. The fight had barely lasted thirty seconds so far, but Naruto could tell that it would be harder than the one against Sasori and Deidara. That fight had been well tipped in Natsuko's and his favour, not only had they taken the duo by surprise, but they had been worn down by their fight against Gaara.

With a sigh, Naruto sheathed his katana and let it, and his trench coat, slip off his shoulders and onto the forest clearing floor.

He eyed the two Shinobi warily. He still didn't know anything much about them so, while he didn't want to draw the fight out, he wasn't about to rush in either.

Hidan cackled gleefully as he licked his tongue along the middle blade of his scythe. "I've got your blood now you heathen! We shall savour the utmost of suffering together as I offer you in sacrifice to Jashin-sama!"

Naruto almost sweat dropped as one of his opponents swallowed his blood and started to draw some sort of symbol with his foot. "Well that was stupid!"

The Jashinist had almost finished the preparations for his ritual when Naruto let loose a blast of Blood Lightning from his left fingertips. The attack flew true, homing in on the blood that Hidan had taken from him and spreading from the point of impact. Naruto made his blood jutsu attack by discrimination, targeting everything that didn't correspond with the signature of his own blood and literally frying the man's entire circulatory system. The blood used to draw Jashin's symbol on the ground smoked and turned to fine ashes before blowing away in the wind, giving a clear image of what was happening inside.

Naruto frowned. He released his jutsu, but kept a cautious eye on both his enemies. He had felt the effectiveness of his attack. The man's circulatory system was completely destroyed, and would remain so unless he had a high level regeneration factor.

But the lack of blisters and boils on the rest of the, supposedly dead, body was troubling.

As if to confirm his suspicion, the scythe wielding Akatsuki member grunted and clambered to his feet. He stumbled and fell a few times, but the simple fact that he wasn't dead told Naruto that the fight would be even more complicated than he had expected.

If truth be told, he was slightly worried. This was the first time that his blood jutsu failed to kill a target. The main reason he used Blood Chakra as his main style was because it kept his fights short… exactly how he liked them.

He sighed and carefully reached down to pick up his trench coat. He had intended to use the attack that he affectionately called 'The Blood Storm', but there wasn't much point if at least one of them wasn't affected by blood. He would have to use some of the many other Chakra types that he had control over.

Hidan glared. His throat was parched. His entire body felt like shit. And he couldn't even feel his damned heart beating. "What the fuck did you do to me you heathen?"

0°0°0°0°0°0

Natsuko looked back in her brother's direction. She could tell that he was still locked in battle, and that alone came as quite a large surprise. Either he was toying with his opponents, which just wasn't his style, or they were tougher than he had expected.

She was certain that Jiraiya would still be in the hospital after what Naruto did to him, and Tsunade, as Hokage, couldn't just leave the village to run after them. Since those two were the only ones in Konoha that could possibly hope to give Naruto any trouble, it was clear that their pursuers weren't from Konoha.

She sighed. 'That means that it's Akatsuki then. I don't know if I should be glad that there will soon be two less problems for us to worry about, or angry that he seems to be getting all the decent opponents.'

She shook her head and called for a stop. "Guys! Stop! I'm going to use the Flying Thunder God. Naruto-kun's fight is taking longer than expected, and I don't want to hang around to find out if there are any traps waiting for us."

They all grabbed a hold of her and vanished in a flash.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto stared at his opponents blankly. To the outside observer, he looked as if he was waiting for the right opportunity to attack. In actuality, he was trying to decide what to attack with. As he had explained to Natsuko, when you literally had all of the elements at your disposal, and numerous ways to shape them, it was easy to get muddle up when it came to choosing which one to use.

Blood jutsu for example, not only looked cool, which was a very important factor for any self-respecting Shinobi, but was also deadly for ninety-nine percent of the population. It was just Naruto's bad luck that he had fallen on one of the few people who weren't affected.

His eyes narrowed as he observed the silver haired scythe wielder. 'The attack did do what it was supposed to, and he hasn't recovered from it yet, but he seems to be surviving regardless. How can he still be, relatively, intact if all his blood has been fried? His body must be incredibly enduring to withstand the effects of the attack… 'Might as well try slicing him up.'

With a flick of his wrist, two Wind Tigers sprung forth, and one headed for each Akatsuki member.

Kakuzu's eyes widened a fraction at the display of Ninjutsu without the use of hand-seals, but he reacted with the precision of an experienced hunter. He flipped through a quick series of seals and his red tiger mask came to the fore.

"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"

Kakuzu jumped back as he unleashed a small ball of molten fire. A bright red core of super-heated chakra so hot that the outer surface was crusted over with onyx black flames. It smashed head on into the tiger and erupted into a giant firestorm, further fuelled and intensified by the Wind Chakra of Naruto's technique.

Naruto used Body Flicker to escape as the flames spread at high speeds, racing across the forest floor and up the thick tree trunks like ravenous hell-fire, leaving nothing but scorched and smoldering earth in its wake.

Hidan rolled to the side in an attempt to escape the tiger. Unfortunately for him, while his body had fared much better than a normal person's would have, the Blood jutsu had still done a lot of damage. His cardiovascular system was completely burnt out. His muscles, while still functional, had taken some serious mutilation. All in all, the semi-intelligent elemental tiger had no problem adjusting its trajectory to keep up with him, and proceeded to maul the immortal Jashinite mercilessly.

The innumerable small blades of sharpened Wind Chakra, that composed the tiger's body, tore into the helpless Akatsuki member and literally diced him into small chunks of bloodless flesh and dry bone. When the technique fizzled out, the only distinguishable parts that remained were his left foot and his head, complete with neck and half of his right shoulder.

Hidan was enraged. "You fucking bastard! Look what you've done! Get down here right know so I can bite your fucking head off!"

Naruto stared at the talking head incredulously. "What the…"

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

Naruto snapped his head towards the other enemy and saw a shock white spear of lightning chakra headed straight for him. He cursed himself for getting distracted, even if the talking decapitated head was just about the weirdest thing he had ever seen. Even weirder that Jack the immortal monkey.

'How the hell can he talk when he's not got any lungs and probably only half his vocal cords?'

The Uzumaki, aware that he wouldn't have time to dodge, thrust his hands forwards and let loose a five inch beam of tightly compressed Wind Chakra. The two attacks connected and exploded outwards in a surprisingly mild shockwave as the entire area was blanketed in static electricity.

Naruto grinned as he felt his hair stand on end. Over the years, he had imagined and developed hundreds of techniques that could, potentially, be used in hundreds of situations. The 'problem', so to speak, was that they usually required a certain set of conditions to be met before use and, while it wasn't hard to create those conditions, it also wasn't worth creating them when simpler techniques would be just as effective. Now, he was going to get to used one.

But first. "You know," he shouted conversationally across the relatively short distance that separated them. "I saw you use Fire from your red tiger mask, lightning from your yellow bull mask, and you've got four masks in all. Assuming that you yourself act as a fifth, I'm tempted to conclude that you can use all five elements. There are very few who can claim, or are even rumored, to be able to do that, and one of them happens to be the only bounty hunter on the black market that I've been told is even more successful than me."

Kakuzu chuckled. "Yes… I've heard of you too. The 'Bloody Storm' is what they call you, and I suppose that the Nine Tails' vessel is the so called 'Burning Wave'. You've short-cut me on a lot of bounties boy. That's a lot of money you've cost me, and I hate losing money!"

The last statement was accompanied by a sizeable blast of killer intent, but Naruto shrugged it off effortlessly.

A plan started to formulate in his mind. It had little chance of succeeding, but he had nothing to lose by trying.

He unsealed a small flat metal case, roughly the size of a wallet, and waved it around. "I have a proposition for you bounty hunter-san. This metal sleeve has the information to all my bank accounts. As you said, I've collected a good number of bounties over the years, and I've spent very little of it. Since one of us is about to die, why should we let either of our hard earned money go to waste? As a hunter, I'm sure you also have your information on you, I suggest we both place it to one side. Winner takes all!"

He tossed the case far off to one side, visible, but out of harm's way. There was a moment of silence as Kakuzu contemplated the situation…

"Hey! You fucking shits! Don't just leave me here! Put my damned body back together or I swear to Jashin-sama I'll bite my way up to your necks and chew your fucking throats out!"

He reached into his cloak and pulled out what looked like a plain leather wallet. He threw it over to Naruto's metal one. "Alright kid! Since I'm the one who'll be walking away from this, I might as well take your money as well as your life."

As soon as he finished, four blankets of black threads burst from his back, taking the masks with them. The blankets warped into four monstrous bodies, with the masks serving as faces, and stood behind their master, ready to attack.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, grinning internally as it crackled with small electric discharges. 'The static zone seems to cover roughly two hundred yards, with us at the center. The finale will be more powerful if the radius increases.'

His left arm sparked and hissed as blue lightning accumulated and ran down it. His right arm whooshed as wind swirled around it.

"Raiju!" (1)

With a thrust, as if he were shoving something, his hands shot forwards and two normal sized wolves came to life, one of transparent Wind Chakra and the other of electric blue Lightning Chakra. They ran through the air, their feet never touching the ground, and stepped into each other, combining into one.

The new wolf was the same size as its parents, but to the naked eye it looked almost identical to the lightning wolf. The only difference being that it's short fur now stuck on end with small bolts and bursts of lightning jumping between the strands.

The wolf swiftly crossed the distance between Naruto and his foe. The Uzumaki vanished in a crackle of electricity with the Body Flicker: Lightning Style. The elemental variation of the common technique allowed him to use the ambient static to his advantage. Not only did the body flicker go faster, but his arrival was masked by the surrounding electrical field.

He appeared behind Kakuzu and punched the taller man in the back of the neck. The punch would have been hard enough to snap a normal man's spinal column, if not outright rip his head off, but Naruto found that it was his hand that broke against the incredibly hard skin.

He could almost hear the Akatsuki's smirk as he whispered. "Earth Release: Earth Spear!"

Naruto had never heard of the technique, but he quickly surmised what it did. He had coated his skin with Earth Chakra to create an incredibly dense protective armor that would make regular Taijutsu useless.

With his hand already having healed, Naruto delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, this time making Lightning Chakra dance down the attacking limb.

Seeing the risk, Kakuzu jumped over the kick, twisted in midair while rising his left foot, and came back down with a heavy axe-kick.

Naruto spun out of the way, using chakra in his feet to stay standing as the ground cracked and shook under the force of his enemy's heel. He jabbed back with a Lightning covered palm. His hand speared through Kakuzu's chest like a hot knife through butter, before a shower of wooden splinters exploded outwards as the Akatsuki member escaped with the Substitution Technique and replaced himself with a log.

Raiju used the static electricity to its benefit, moving faster and with more agility than was normally possible for Lightning based chakra techniques. The wolf shot behind its creator's back as the yellow bull-masked creature lined itself up and shot another Lightning Release: False Darkness!

Raiju jumped, opened its powerful jaws, and allowed the spear of lightning to hit it right in the mouth. Before the jutsu could end, and faster than the eye could see, the bi-elemental wolf travelled down the electrical pathway, using it to increase its speed even further. More Static Chakra was generated in the blur's wake as Wind and Lightning combined, before the wolf crashed into the bull-mask.

With what remained of its Wind Chakra, Raiju tore the creature apart with razor sharp claws and teeth, leaving the blanket of threads to fall to the floor in a twitching mess. The three separate pieces of the irreparably damaged heart each gave a last spasm before lying motionless.

Naruto gave no indication of the satisfaction he felt as the static charge in the area increased and spread out. He ducked a vicious kick as Kakuzu attacked him from behind, and rolled forwards as the heel came down in another axe-kick.

As he came out of the roll, he pushed Earth Chakra into the ground and caused a barrage of Rock Arrows to shot out. The arrows were hard enough, and flew fast enough, that they broke past Kakuzu's Earth Release: Earth Spear, but their momentum was stopped before they penetrated more than a quarter inch and he quickly tore them out with a downwards swipe of his arm. The small wounds healed almost instantly, knitted back together by the black threads that seemed to run through his entire body.

Kakuzu bent down on one knee and punched the ground. "Earth Release: Earth Trail!" A jagged trail of long and sharp earth spikes grew from the ground, heading from Kakuzu's fist straight to Naruto.

The Uzumaki flipped backwards high into the air. When he reached the apex of his curve, he spread his fingers and slashed both hands forwards in an 'X', unleashing ten crescent shaped Wind Blades.

As he started to descend, he saw Raiju, now bright yellow and completely composed of Lightning Chakra, heading towards the red tiger-masked… thing. His attention was redirected however, when he noticed the blue eagle mask pointing straight at him.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

The attack generated a huge vortex of wind that rapidly compressed until it reached the highest possible wind pressure, then shot straight towards Naruto.

As he continued his fall, Naruto's eyes made a quick sweep of the battle ground. Kakuzu and what Naruto guessed was the earth mask had retreated a bit, presumably to gain some distance the wind attack. Raiju was now an electrifying mix of burning red, bright yellow, and shock white, and was baring down on its prey. He realized that the much awaited 'finale' was about to happen and decided to add even more to it.

He let Lightning Chakra flow over his body in a thick Lightning Armor that would protect him from almost any attack of that element, and prepared to do one of the few things he had really hoped never to do… The Rasengan.

Naruto was rarely hypocritical. At least, he didn't think that he was. But when he had convinced his sister that it was foolish of her not to use the Rasengan just because it had first been created by Minato… he had been hypocritical to the extreme. Most of the time, he was loath to do anything that would make him even remotely comparable to the man, unless it was something that would show his distinct superiority.

Nonetheless, he knew the principle of the technique, and his ability to shape the lightning element was second to none. Which was why, on his first try ever, Uzumaki Naruto not only created a complete Rasengan… but a perfect elemental version.

"Lightning Release: Rasengan!"

Vast amounts of Lightning Chakra poured out of Naruto's body, crackled across his armor, down his arm, and shaped into compressed ball of electrical plasma. He braced himself for impact as the wind technique closed in on him, and, just as his feet touched ground, he thrust his hand forwards to meet it.

As Raiju ran through the static air towards the red tiger mask, the said mask seemed to take a deep gulp of air before spitting out a ball of amazingly hot fire.

"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"

Once again, the wolf leapt forwards and swallowed the attack, its maw opening impossibly wide in order to take it in. It continued to run as the fire attack detonated inside, the tightly woven lightning structure only barely withholding the internal blast and turning the wolf's pet into a fiery red color with yellow-white lightning dancing over it.

As it drew closer, Raiju pounced at its prey and transformed into a high-speed ball-lightning that chased the tiger mask as it tried to escape, before colliding into it with a loud crack. The ball expanded to almost three feet wide, before violently imploding, obliterating two thirds of the threads that made the tiger mask's 'body', but failing to destroy the heart.

The remaining threads fell to the floor and quickly began to reconstruct themselves.

Naruto's Rasengan smashed into the powerful wind vortex and the two jutsu started battling each other. Since, this time, Naruto was the one using the weaker element, it was considerably harder to make the colliding attacks generate Static Chakra. Fortunately, with his monstrous chakra levels, it was well within his ability.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw his Raiju implode and didn't bother holding back his grin. The implosion didn't just cause a lot of damage to anything in its radius, it create a very small area in which the electrical charge was inversed.

For a moment, the only action on the battle field was the massive amounts of Static Chakra being generated in Naruto's area. Then, in response to the opposite charge, the entire and considerable blanket of static electricity crackled ominously.

Naruto's hair stuck out like an insane, blood-red afro. His smirk widened to a rarely seen enthusiastic grin. 'Time for the Finale!'

"Raijin!" (2)

Instantly, from everywhere in the static zone, dozens of bolts of lightning responded to the opposite charge and struck down one the spot where Raiju imploded in a continuous storm. The wide blanket of Static Chakra diminished steadily as bolt after bolt rained down in a display similar to a giant plasma lamp.

Kakuzu cursed when one of the first bolts ripped through his back and destroyed his earth heart. When the lightning storm began to intensify, his hands blurred into hand-seals faster than ever before in his life. He didn't have time to call back either of his surviving hearts. The threads around fire mask were still rebuilding, and the wind mask was too close to the enemy.

"Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!"

A torrent of water blew from his mouth, drawing moisture from every available source to raise a circular defense that absorbed the bolts that struck into it. Kakuzu took it a step further, not only thickening the wall as much as possible, but closing off the top so that he was protected from all angles.

Despite his situation, he couldn't help the grudging respect at the power and duration of the attack as he was forced to push more and more chakra into defending against it. It had been a very long time since he had lost so many hearts.

The core of the storm grew blinding white as the continuous stream of lightning superheated the area. The tiger mask was electrocuted before it could reform, and its remains were disintegrated when they were swallowed by the expanding sphere of energy.

The eagle mask was fried as streaks of lightning tore through it, their numbers multiplied and sustained by the static generated from the colliding wind and lightning techniques.

Finally, the electric storm died out and the core exploded outwards. Naruto was knocked back, but he managed to stabilize himself and keep to his feet, his armor protecting his from most of the damage, even if his skin did burn to a few tans darker before healing back to normal.

Kakuzu's water defense gave out, but not before it completed its purpose of protecting him from harm. The electrified water splashed to the ground and the remaining electricity was discharged into the earth.

Naruto released his Rasengan and his Lightning Armor. He took a step forwards, preparing to rush his enemy and finish him off before he could recover from the drain of his water jutsu, when he felt something under his boot. He glanced down and found that he was standing on one of his Rock Arrows, with the others scattered near it. He was about to move forwards when his eyes caught something on the tips of a few of the arrows, blood.

He scooped up three of the arrows in one smooth motion and swiped his fingertips over the red liquid on their heads. With each of his fingers coated in his enemy's blood, Naruto pointed his hand and unleashed a cluster of Blood Lightning.

Kakuzu, having seen the effects of that attack on his partner, dodged to one side. The lightning shaped blood followed, honing in on his signature, and struck right into his chest. The log fell to the ground undamaged, showing that the Akatsuki member had once again evaded with the Substitution Technique.

Kakuzu straightened up and prepared to launch a counter offensive when a sharp pain lanced through his chest, followed by a sharp burning sensation. He just had time to look down and see the shafts of three arrows buried deep in his torso, each one encased in a blood-red glow of chakra, before his last heart exploded in his chest.

Naruto recovered his affects and used his katana to cut off the Akatsuki member's head before burning his body. He sealed the head away and walked over to the silver haired one.

Hidan glared as redheaded man approached him. His usually slicked back hair was burnt, frizzled, and sticking out at odd ends. His face was all blistery from the uncountable lightning bolts that had struck it. In short, he was pissed.

It didn't even cross his mind that he was in a bad situation, one from which he might not recover. After all, he had been blessed with immortality by Jashin-sama. "That's right, come here you damned heathen! My teeth are enough to take you on! Come here so I can bite your throat out!"

Naruto almost rolled his eyes, but contented himself with sealing the head in another storage seal.

When he looked through the Akatsuki member's wallet, which like Naruto's had seals on it to protect it from damage, he was glad to find that his bet had paid off. There were numerous certificates with information on various bank accounts in various names. It remained to be seen if the information was actually valid, but Naruto doubted that a shinobi of that level would bother walking around with false information.

A Shadow Clone popped into existence next to him, and Naruto handed it the wallet. "Go to the appropriate banks and check out the validity and balances of all these accounts. Then I want you to set up a new series of accounts and transfer all the funds. When you're finished, put the new papers in the nearest safe house and dispel."

The Clone nodded and headed off in the direction of the Fire Capital. He was changing the accounts in case someone else had the information to them.

Naruto paused for a moment. The Two-Way Tracking Seal that allowed Natsuko and he to always know each other's general locations told him that she had made a large 'jump'. He easily assumed that she had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to go straight to Uzu.

He sighed and set course for the Land of Waves.

He knew that, if he took too long, she would start tearing her hair out in frustration over the situation with their mother. She had already shown a surprising amount of patience in not pestering him as he tried to work out what had happened and what to do about it.

The fact of the matter was that he had already come to a conclusion, and had thought of a way to deal with it. The problem was that, if he was right, and if something went wrong, however unlikely that was, he could very well end up killing his mother again.

He shook his head clear of those thoughts and picked up his pace until he was a mere blur in the trees.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Uchiha Sasuke stood atop the Konoha wall with a backpack hanging off his shoulders and a tri-pronged kunai clutched tightly in his hand.

Konoha was holding him back!

All day long, people had been consoling him for his defeat, claiming that the demon must have cheated or tricked him somehow. But he knew better. He had felt his Chidori blow her skull apart, and he had seen the head grow back again in a matter of seconds as if it were a mere surface wound.

What made it worse was that it hadn't been like the time he had punched a hole through her chest back at the Valley of the End. Back then, the Kyuubi's youki had been visible, palpable, as it healed her wounds and strengthened her body. He had known that he was stronger because it hadn't been the dobe that beat him, it had been the demon.

This time…

He grit his teeth and clenched his fist harder until it began to bleed around the kunai, never noticing the slight red glow that briefly flickered around his hand.

Sasuke had thought that he had progressed over the last four years, that he had grown stronger, and that it was only a matter of time before he faced his brother and avenged his clan. He had copied all of Kakashi's jutsu, he had learnt to use the Cursed Seal, but none of that had made a difference! The dead-last had gotten much more powerful outside the village.

'Konoha is holding me back!'

A slow, evil smirk crept onto his face.

It didn't matter. They had only slowed him down, he would still be an avenger. He had copied everything Konoha had to offer, now it was time to find Orochimaru and get even more.

"Just wait, Itachi. soon…"

He jumped down from the wall and sped off into the forest.

0°0°0°0°0°0

In his hospital bed, Jiraiya bolted up into a sitting position.

His eyes widened. "Owowowow…" Then watered over as his recently operated body object to the brusque movement with a mind-numbing jolt of pain.

He fell back on his back and fumbled for the 'call' button.

A few seconds later a nurse burst through the door. "Jiraiya-sama? Is something wrong?"

"Get me an ANBU! Quick!"

She nodded and dashed back out. Half a minute later an owl masked ANBU came into the room and knelt before speaking in a monotonous voice that was distorted by the mask. "Jiraiya-sama?"

"Find Tsunade, tell her it's urgent!"

"Yes, sir!"

The ANBU disappeared in a Leaf Body Flicker, leaving Jiraiya alone. He shifted uncomfortably, mentally groaning at the fallout of what had just happened.

After the Uchiha's first attempt at leaving the village, the Toad Sage had placed a Tracking Seal on him that activated whenever he left the village. He hadn't told anyone but Tsunade about it, because they had both agreed that the Civilian Council would through a fit and demand that it be removed.

Jiraiya had no doubt as to where, or who, the Uchiha was going to. The boy already relied far too much on his bloodline and the Cursed Seal, so he would go straight to Orochimaru looking for more easy power-ups.

It was almost fifteen minutes later that the same ANBU came back. "Jiraiya-sama, I found Hokage-sama but…"

Jiraiya almost sweat-dropped. He had known his old team-mate for a long time now, and the ANBU's tone didn't reassure him. "What, is it?"

The ANBU gulped. "I found her in the Hokage Mansion, Jiraiya-sama. She was passed out with… with what looked like several weeks supply of empty alcohol bottles around her."

Jiraiya didn't even bother trying to stifle his groan of exasperation. Of all the times for her to knock herself out drunk, she just had to choose the one where he was also incapacitated. Her drinking had gotten worse since little Shizune had stopped talking to her, but this was just ridiculous!

'I'll have to talk to the girl and make her get past her anger at Tsu-hime. With the way things are going, Konoha can't afford to have a distracted Hokage.'

He focused back on the ANBU. "Find Shizune, and tell her to take care of her. If she argues, tell her that it's an order and that we don't have time for her petty grudges. Then find Kakashi and tell him that his student has left the village. He's got an almost twenty minute head-start now and he's probably headed for the Land of Rice to try and find one of Orochimaru's bases."

Owl nodded. "I'll find Kakashi-sempai right away, Jiraiya-sama. But, as for Shizune-san, I found this…"

The ANBU handed over a crumpled letter before once again vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Perplex, Jiraiya tugged on the sides of the letter to flatten it out, then began to read.

Tsunade.

I considered writing all the ways I've been disappointed in you over the years, but that would be hypocritical. After uncle Dan's death, you were all I had left. Maybe that's why I never stood up to you when you continually spat on his memory, shirking away from your duties and responsibilities to all the things he loved. For the longest time, I was worried about losing you, the last of my family, but now I realize that I lost you years ago. I lost you, abandoned you, when I stopped standing up to the woman I loved and looked up to, and watched her slowly become a woman that I can no longer stand to see.

Now, I fully intend to never let my hesitations and fears cost me anymore of my precious people. I am leaving Konoha to join Natsuko-chan and Naruto-san, and shall not fail them as I failed you. You may try to declare me a missing-nin, but remember this; we left the village before I could graduate from the academy and, while you did complete my education, I never officially became a kunoichi of Konoha. I have no doubt that the council will want to ignore this detail, and that, yet again, you shall bow to their wishes. Naruto-san has assured me that Konoha has no legal standing to come after me, since it is an administrative fault that led to this situation, and not a deception on my part. Nonetheless, it had become blatantly apparent over recent years that the leaders of Konoha care little for justice, or for upholding their own laws.

Know this. My loyalty now lies with my new, and true family. I may not be an Uzumaki, but I shall die for them if need be. More importantly… I shall live for them.

…Goodbye.

Shizune.

Jiraiya folded the letter up and placed it on the bedside table. He felt strangely empty, and couldn't seem to muster up the appropriate emotions to deal with what he had just read.

He just muttered what first came to mind. "Damn."

0°0°0°0°0°0

Tazuna opened the door to see who had knocked. "Naruto! Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." He looked around. "Where's Natsuko?"

"She's in Uzu at the moment. We had to make an unexpected detour through Konoha and, while we had planned for it, things have accelerated a bit."

The old bridged builder raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Did they cause some trouble? Is she alright?"

Naruto nodded. "She's fine. Konoha was fairly easy to deal with, things pretty much went as I expected they would, but we got some unexpected news about our mother."

He trailed off but Tazuna didn't inquire further. "Anyway… I stopped by because I wanted to set up something I had planned in case one of the members of our hopeful alliance is ever attacked."

Seeing the older man's worried expression he hastened on. "Not that I'm expecting you to be attacked! Otherwise, I would have installed it right away! Originally, I had intended to explain things and set them up when we could get all the leaders of our alliance together, but now I think things will be easier if I set it up as we go."

Tazuna frowned. "You keep talking about 'it', but what is 'it' exactly?"

"If you can take me to a fairly large area that's out of the way, yet easily accessible, I can show you directly."

Tazuna nodded, willing to trust the young man, and led him to the main square. They stopped just in front of the statue of Natsuko. "It's not exactly 'out of the way', but it is the most accessible place in town. Other than market day, it isn't really used for anything but town celebrations."

Naruto looked around before deciding on the best place. He walked to the other side of the square and knelt one knee to the ground. He placed both palms flat on the paving and closed his eyes in concentration.

Tazuna and a number of curious townsfolk watched in awe as the stones beneath Naruto shimmered like water before melting into a wide flat platform of what looked like polished black marble. Two one-meter-thick square pillars emerged from the ground. They were placed ten meters apart and rose to twelve meters high, both in the same black polished marble. When they stopped growing, two horizontal lintels of the same thickness grew out from the left pillar until connecting to the right, with the top lintel overlapping on either side by one meter in what the observers now recognized as a very big stone tori (3) in a classic Shinmei style.

Naruto got to his feet and rubbed his palms together. He walked up to the newly created gate and pressed his hands to the left-hand pillar. A half-meter-thick panel of polished white stone filled the ten by ten meter gateway.

With a snap of his fingers, Naruto created four clones and unsealed four large pots of chakra ink and four calligraphy brushes. Without prompting, the clones each picked a quarter of the white square and set to work painting a large Fuinjutsu.

The Uzumaki walked back over to Tazuna and the people who had gathered with him.

Much as he tried not to, Tazuna couldn't help but blunt. "Have you thought of working in the bridge business? With the speed you work, you could make a fortune!"

Naruto chuckled. "If you think that's impressive, wait until you've seen Uzugakure. Now, let me explain what this is. As you know, Natsuko and I intend to approach many of the Lands that she helped during her time in Konoha to see if they want to join in the alliance we're trying to build. The problem, of course, is that most of those lands don't have much, if any, military presence. Certainly not enough to stand up to one of the Major Shinobi Villages if they ever try for an invasion. Even if everyone we visit agrees to join the alliance, it's highly improbably that we'll be able to reach them in time to help if they are attacked."

He turned and pointed at his diligently working clones. "This, is my solution to that disadvantage. I'm not great at naming things, so I just call it the 'Torii'. I won't bore you with the details, but basically it works a bit like a storage seal. But rather than creating a small pocket dimension and then creating an opening to put something in before closing it again; the seal that my clones are painting will create a larger pocket dimension and then create two openings and leave them open. The first opening will be created on the 'Departure Torii' and the second on the 'Arrival Torii'. then, you can activate the Torii here in the Land of Waves, walk through it, and come out from a matching Torii in Uzugakure. When our alliance has grown, we'll be able to create a 'Torii Network' that will allow us to immediately send help to, or evacuate, any of our allies that are under attack."

After a moment to take the information in, a seemingly random townsman spoke up enthusiastically. "That would be incredible! It would take trade to a whole new level! We would be able to get entire shipments from one side of the Elemental Nations to the other in the blink of an eye!"

Naruto was slightly surprised that they believed him without needing a demonstration, but he supposed that it was because of his connection to Natsuko. He shook his head. "While you are right that it could be used like that, I think that we'll have to limit the use of the Torii. My opinion is that it should only be used as military transport or in emergencies."

The same man frowned. "Why?"

Naruto paused as he though how best to formulate his explanation. "How much of the Land of Waves income would you say depends on trade and shipment? Sixty, maybe even seventy percent?"

The group gave a collective nod that was frankly quite amusing.

Naruto nodded back. "Now, how many people would lose their jobs if all the usual ships, caravans, and trade routes suddenly became obsolete?"

Their eyes widened in understanding. "Our economy would crumble! It would be almost as bad as when Gato was here!"

"Exactly, that's why I think it'll be best to only use it for reasons that the leaders of each member of the alliance will have to discuss."

0°0°0°0°0°0

An hour and a half later, Naruto was taking tea with Tazuna and Tsunami when one of his clones dispelled, having finished the Fuinjutsu.

He led his two hosts back to the town square, where word seemed to have spread and at least half of the population had gathered in a circle around the Torii.

The crowd parted so the he could get through to the platform. He looked over the seal to make sure that everything was in order, though it was only a quick glance since he had full confidence in his clones' abilities. He then went through a quick series of hand-seals and activated the Fuinjutsu. The seal glowed with chakra and sunk into the stone, giving the appearance of a deep engraving.

"Naruto-san." He turned to face Tsunami with a quirked eyebrow. She continued. "If the Torii is used to send reinforcements to allies, what happens if it's destroyed?"

Naruto grinned. "I was hoping that someone would ask that!"

He pointed at his three remaining clones. "Guys, you know what to do."

He rejoined the crowd, making shooing gestures as he went. "Everyone back up a little, this is going to make some noise!"

The three clones placed themselves around the Torii. One next to each pillar and the third standing on top of the upper lintel. "Clone Great Explosion!"

There were a few screams of surprise as the three clones used the rest of their chakra to exploded with the force of several Explosive Tags. When the smoke and dust settled down, it revealed a completely unscathed Torii, it's polished black surfaces glittering slightly in the sunlight.

Naruto took a few steps forwards, proud of the high quality of his work. He spoke loudly enough for all to hear him. "While the platform and the Torii may look like they are just black and white colored marble, they are actually made of a much denser stone of my own creation. It would take a small miracle to put a chip in it, let alone destroy it."

It was the truth. Naruto was quite certain that nothing short of a Bijuu would be able to destroy the structure. He himself would probably be able to if he opened all eight Celestial Gates, but he wasn't sure, and he wasn't much inclined to find out. It may not have shown, but the amount of chakra he had expended to create it would have exhausted several Kages put together.

Naruto felt that he had put on enough of a show, so he strode up to the left-hand pillar, which also served as a control panel. There were only two symbols at the moment, but more would be added as the alliance grew.

The first symbol was shaped like the outline of a fortified castle. It was twice as big as the other symbols would be, because it was only to be used for emergencies. It connected to a level in Deep Uzu that was large enough to host several dozen Torii, allowing many connections to be maintained at the same time.

Naruto planned for this to be the area where Shinobi from the various parts of the alliance could gather if they ever had to respond to an invasion. They would be able to group up and deploy wherever they were needed. Of course, since it was in Deep Uzu, Naruto had placed a number of protections on the room in case the enemy ever managed to gain access. The most radical of those defenses was a series of seal that would transport water from the ocean above and flood the entire level.

The second symbol was the circular swirl of the Uzumaki clan, which also doubled as the symbol of Uzugakure. It connected to a single Torii in Surface Uzu.

All the symbols were powered by a small store of chakra so that civilians could activate it if needed, but if that was all used up, only people who could mold their chakra would be able to activate it. When the alliance became official, he would make sure that guards were placed to prevent people from randomly activating it.

He placed his hand over the second symbol and the white surface glowed for a moment before disappearing, revealing a sunny and magnificent view of the recently rebuilt Surface Uzugakure.

He turned to the crowd. "Feel free to come through and explore Surface Uzu. However, because of the security, you won't be able to visit Deep Uzu."

The group walked through to Uzugakure, and he spent a few more minutes showing them around and pointing out various buildings. He then headed down to Deep Uzu.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Comfortably seated on the plush couch in the Uzumaki Residence living-room, Natsuko was getting both impatient and worried. She knew that Naruto would be fine, no matter who he was fighting, but this was the first time that any of his fights lasted more than a handful of minutes. She was fairly certain that his fight was finished. The Two-Way Tracking Seal had informed her when he covered a large distance before stopping again. Judging by the direction and the distance, she guessed that he had stopped in the Land of Waves.

She knew why he would stop there, but she was a bit perplex as to why now. There really wasn't much use for the instant travel that the gates offered, not until the alliance was bigger than just Wave and Whirlpool.

She had spent an hour or so with Shizune, Ayame, and Teuchi, helping them select houses and a shop for themselves. The Ichiraku had taken up shop near what would probably be one of the busier parts of town. There was a three bedroom apartment on the second floor, but Natsuko had insisted that they also take an actual house.

Natsuko perked up when she felt Naruto's tracking seal 'jump' suddenly much closer to her. She smiled when she sensed that he was walking around Surface Uzu, before coming down to the Deep. She hopped to her feet and started preparing some tea.

Naruto walked in just as she finished setting things out on the coffee-table and they sat down, snuggling together and sipping the warm beverage. A situation that they both found incredibly relaxing.

He gave her a rundown of the fight, the bank accounts, and what he had done in Wave, before they both lapsed into comfortable silence.

After a time, Naruto sighed for no apparent reason. He spoke softly. "I guess you want to know what I've come up with."

It was a statement, rather than a question, so Natsuko simply sat straighter and waited for him to elaborate.

"First," Naruto said haltingly. "Can you talk to her? Now, I mean, without going into your mindscape."

Natsuko frowned and concentrated on trying to do so, making her thoughts resonate in her mind. 'Okaa-san? Can you hear me?'

"Kyaaa!" Came the surprised reply.

'I'll take that as a yes…'

There was a small paused, during which Natsuko got the strange impression of someone trying to recollect their dignity and calm their racing heart.

'Okaa-san, are you alright?'

"Sweet Kami! Yes, yes I'm fine!" Another short pause. "Do you have any idea how creepy that was! One minute I'm quite happily relaxing under the sakura tree, and the next your disembodied voice is booming across your mindscape! You scared me out of my skin!"

Natsuko giggled at her mother's indignant tone. "Sorry, Okaa-san."

Naruto lifted his eyebrows. "I take it, you can hear her then?"

She nodded. "Yep, I can hear her just fine. But apparently it's a bit creepy for her, having a disembodied voice echoing around my mindscape."

"Can she hear me?" He asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Natsuko tilted her head to the side. 'Okaa-san, did you hear that?'

"Hear what, Natsuko-chan?"

'You didn't hear Naruto-kun's voice?'

"No, is he trying to say something to me? How is he? Does he know I'm here?"

'He's fine, and yes, he knows you're here. He's about to explain how that happened and he wanted to know if you could hear him talk… Hang on a minute I'm going to try something.'

She focused on trying to broadcast what she heard into her mindscape the same way she could broadcast what she thought.

"Um… Can you say something, please, Naruto-kun." She asked, unsure as to whether it was working and feeling a bit foolish because of it.

Naruto blinked. "Sure… 'Something'."

"I can hear him! Was that really Naruto-kun? He sounds so mature! I know he's a big boy now, but for me it's like it was just yesterday that I was teaching him how to handle a blade."

Natsuko giggled. 'Oh he is a 'big boy'! Surely my memories were enough to show you that?'

"Natsuko!" Kushina's voice yelled back scandalously, which only made her giggles redouble.

Naruto chuckled. "I take it she can hear me then?"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

He pushed back the curiosity to ask what they had been talking about, and got straight to the explanation. "Right, there a few possible explanation, only two of which I would give any credence to, and only one that I think really fits."

He pointed a finger up. "First, she could be an imprint contained by the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. This would have happened when she was holding you just after you were born. Some of her chakra may have subconsciously leaked onto you, and when Minato-teme… when Minato performed the sealing, it would have shaped into an imprint of her. The problem with this theory is that creating an imprint requires focus. Since Okaa-san didn't have the time, or opportunity to focus on what she wanted the imprint to be like, it shouldn't have worked."

He paused to refill his tea cup and take a small sip.

"He sounds like Minato-koi when he got into his theories for the Flying Thunder God technique, back when he was still developing it."

'Minato… Koi?' Natsuko couldn't hide the slight coldness in her thought-voice when her mother used the term of endearment.

Inside the mindscape, Kushina flinched. "Sorry… I know what he did, and I'll never forgive him for it… but time is different in here. I know that it's been years since that day, but sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that we were happily preparing together for your birth. Sometimes I… forget, that I hate him."

Natsuko supposed she could understand that. If Naruto betrayed her, it would probably take her years to get over it.

She snorted at the idea that he would ever betray her. He would rip the world apart for her if she asked him to, as she would do for him, betraying each other was something they were both incapable of, plain and simple.

A small, unnoticeable grin stretched her lips. 'Just don't let Naruto-kun hear you comparing him to Minato-teme! He's described some of his more… destructive techniques to me, the ones that are too destructive to actually demonstrate without good reason. If you compare him to the man he hates beyond anything else in the world… Damn that's a scary thought!'

Naruto, unaware of the exchange, continued with his explanation. "The second theory is more farfetched, but in my opinion it's the one that fits best. From what you've described, the Okaa-san in your head is far too… complex, to be a mere imprint. I think that she must have left some of her chakra on you, just before Minato stole you, so, when he used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, her soul was pulled into you and sealed at the same time as the Kyuubi."

He sighed and scratched his head. "Normally, if a human's soul is ripped from their body, they would suffer from extreme necrosis. I suspect that that didn't happen because she's an Uzumaki. The sheer size of her chakra reserves provided her body with enough life energy to delay the necrosis, and by the time it would have set in, I had already placed her in a Stasis Seal."

Natsuko frowned a little at the way he was speaking. "Naruto-kun, Okaa-san can hear you… You don't have to speak like she's not here."

He nodded vaguely, pretending not to listen. "Now, we're lucky because everything we need to 'fix' the situation is already pretty much at our disposition. Getting her souls out of your body will be easy enough, a few years back I successfully worked on replicating the Yamanaka clan techniques. If you focus properly, you should be able to project her soul, rather than your mind."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing with a slightly strain in his voice that she only noticed because of the amount of time she had spent in his company. "Then, she has two possibilities. Either we use our Immortality Jutsu on her body and she retakes possession of it, essentially bringing her back to life. Or… Or she takes possession of one of our shadow clones and then we dispel it. That will allow her to die and… move on… if that's what she wants…"

Natsuko's eyes widened, and she suddenly understood why he was talking as if their mother wasn't there. 'He's scared that she'll choose to move on! He put all that effort into trying to bring her back to life, then he gave up, deciding that she was probably in a better place and that he shouldn't drag her back, and now that he can bring her back to life… he's scared that she won't want him to.'

"Of course I want to come back!" Kushina exclaimed indignantly from inside the mindscape, making Natsuko aware that she had broadcasted her thoughts. "I've already missed most of my babies' growing-up, I'm not going to miss anymore! Although… eternal life does sound daunting."

Natsuko reached out and pulled her brother into a tight, comforting hug. "Calm down, Naruto-kun. She wants to stay with us, even if she is a bit intimidated by the idea of living forever." She murmured in his ear, smiling a little when he sagged in relief.

It was strange to see her powerful brother in such a fragile state, but it was also incredibly comforting for her to know how much he cared for his family.

She frowned when a question popped into mind. "Naruto-kun, how can you use the Immortality jutsu on Okaa-san if she's already dead?"

He pulled back from the hug and flopped in the couch. "Her body might be dead as a whole, but I put it into stasis soon enough that most of the individual cells will still be alive and a fair amount of her chakra will still remain. The jutsu will just work backwards, first rejuvenating the cells, then the tissues, and finally the body will be kick-started back into life. As for the chakra in her body, most of it will have already been burnt away to fight the necrosis, but thanks to the Uzumaki bloodline she should still have more than enough for us to make this work."

"Ask him when we can do this, I want be alive again so that I can hug my children!" Kushina said from inside the mindscape, prompting Natsuko to repeat the question.

Naruto grinned, feeling happiness that at a level that had only been matched the day Natsuko came back into his life.

"I sent some clones to start preparing the Fuinjutsu as soon as I got here, just in case. It'll take a few hours for them to finish, so you should both use that time to study the Mind Projecting technique. You'll have your body back by the end of the day Okaa-san." He answered, addressing his mother directly for the first time, even if he couldn't see or hear her yet.

In Natsuko's mindscape, Kushina smiled. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"She says thank you."

0°0°0°0°0°0

In a dark, dimly lit cave, a holographic projection flickered into existence. It resembled a spiky haired man with two Venus-Fly-Trap-like extensions encasing his upper body.

After a few minutes wait, two more holograms appeared. One had three concentric rings around the pupils of his eyes, and the other with a decorative rose flower in her hair.

The man spoke in a cold monotone. "Zetsu, the next meeting isn't scheduled for another three days."

It was delivered as a statement, but the plant-like man knew that it was also a warning. A warning that he wouldn't like the consequences if he had broken the schedule without good cause.

Zetsu got straight to the point, his two distinct voices switching seamlessly. "Hidan and Kakuzu have failed in their mission to capture the Nine Tails. They're both dead."

The woman, with the flower in her hair, narrowed her eyes. "How is it that the two 'immortals' of the Akatsuki died? Killing just one of them is supposed to be impossible, you expect us to believe that they are both dead?"

"All five of Kakuzu's hearts were destroyed. As for Hidan, his head is still alive, but his body was sliced into tiny pieces by a large number of Wind Blades before being further damaged by a Lightning attack. He will be useless now."

"And their rings? Did you recover them?"

The white half of Zetsu gulped, although the separate colors weren't easily distinguishable with the hologram. "Yes, we have both rings, but they were both heavily damaged. They won't be much use unless they can be repaired."

The ring-eyed man spoke again, cold anger clear in his words. "What of Itachi and Kisame?"

"They have tracked down the Eight Tails' location, they should be able to capture him on time."

"Very well… Leave! You will give a full report at the next meeting."

Zetsu departed and Konan turned to her partner. "They are more powerful than we expected. That they defeated the 'Zombie Brothers' is one thing, but I never would have thought that they would be able to kill them."

Pain shrugged dismissively. "I shall go after the Nine Tails' Vessel myself. Their power shall fall before that of a God!"

0°0°0°0°0°0

Naruto and Natsuko stood in the sealing room, staring at their mother's body. It had been removed from the Eternal-Ice Casket, and Naruto had placed a temporary stasis seal on it to prevent further degeneration, they would break the seal just before Kushina's soul re-entered.

Natsuko watched, entranced as her brother went through the process of applying the Immortality jutsu. It was a magnificent sight for her to behold, because she had seen and experienced that results of it. Naruto's 'to-the-point' fighting style made it easy to forget just how much thought and detail went into his techniques, even for her.

When he gave the signal, she took a breath to steady her resolve. 'Ready Okaa-san?'

"Yep! Let's do this, Natsuko-chan!" Came the firm reply.

She performed a short series of hand seals and focused her full attention on her mother's presence in her mindscape, and her mother's body in front of her. She could feel Kushina's focus adding to her own as they announced the technique together. "Mind Release: Mind Projection Technique!"

Normally, when this sort of technique was used, it only projected the user's mind into the target's body. The soul remained in the user's body, and acted as an anchor to pull the mind back when the technique ended.

In Kushina's case, her soul wasn't in her body. So rather than remaining anchored-in, both her mind and soul were projected as a single package. There was a strange sensation of vertigo as Natsuko's mindscape disappeared from view, and she found herself floating through the air towards another body. Her own body.

She saw the paper tag of the Stasis Seal crumble away, just as she reached her destination. And then… nothing.

She was still aware, but she couldn't feel anything. It was as if an intangible blank blanket had fallen over her and was blocking out all sensations. Her notion of time seemed to blur, and while she didn't feel as if more than a second had passed, she also couldn't say that it hadn't been hours or even years since she was laying in nothingness.

Then something clicked.

It was almost audible, almost palpable. Her heartbeat, something that living people seldom paid attention to, thumped in her chest like an impatient neighbor knocking rhythmically at the door.

Her senses returned, sounds and smells and the cold hard floor underneath her back. Her vision was blank, but it was a different sort of blankness. It was the black of obstructed vision, rather than the blank of non-vision.

She opened her eyes… and saw what was, without a doubt, the happiest vision of her life.

Naruto and Natsuko leaned over their mother as she slowly opened her eyes, and were both treated to a tearful but radiant smile. They helped her to her feet, unbothered by her nakedness, and pulled her into a heartfelt hug.

"Welcome back Okaa-san!"

"We've missed you."

"My babies!"

Uzumaki Kushina was reborn.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Kabuto smirked over his shoulder as he walked down the corridor of one of the Hidden Sound Basses. "You know, Sasuke-kun, you're very lucky that our patrols spotted you. They've reported that a squad of some of Konoha's best ANBU were hot on your trail. You're lucky that Orochimaru-sama told us to keep an eye out for you, otherwise you would be in a prison cell right now… Very lucky indeed…"

Sasuke scowled. "Just take me to Orochimaru!"

Kabuto chuckled sinisterly. "Oh, I am, Sasuke-kun! I am. He's very eager to see you."

He stopped in front of a plain looking door, no different from any of the others that they had walked past. "In fact… I would say that you couldn't have arrived at a more perfect time."

Before Sasuke could question or react to that statement, he was pushed into the room and the door was slammed shut behind him.

A dry cough brought his attention to the single bed in the middle of the room. Orochimaru was resting, with his back against the headboard, softened by a couple of plump pillows. His whole disposition looked sickly, as if the man were a few steps away from death's door. A far cry from the fearsome Shinobi that Sasuke had faced in the Forest of Death, and who had killed the Third Hokage just a short month later.

Sasuke suddenly began to question whether he had made the right choice. Would this weak looking man be able to give him the power he needed to kill his brother?

Orochimaru gave his customary 'creepy chuckle', almost unable to believe how lucky he had got. A few days ago he had been angrily searching for an acceptable host amongst his subordinates and prisoners, and now he had the best host he could hope for. One that held the key to his ambitions. The Sharingan.

"Kukukuku… Welcome, Sasuke-kun. I'm so glad you came. Living Corpse Reincarnation!"

Sasuke's eyes boggled as a giant white snake-like creature erupted from Orochimaru's mouth, leaving his body to collapse like a boneless sack of flesh.

The monster's head was a twisted version of Orochimaru's. It's chin was pointed. It's mouth was armed with multiple rows of sharp, fang-like teeth. It's skin was a pale, clayish color. And it had a mop of medium length black hair falling on either side of its face.

The body was that of a long white snake, composed of hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller snakes that wriggled and writhed seemingly of their own volition.

So shocked was he, that Sasuke didn't have time to react when Orochimaru's true form lunged at him and swallowed him whole.

The Uchiha suddenly found himself standing on a surface made of what looked like pink fleshy tentacle-like 'things' which wrapped around his feet and slowly crawled up his body, keeping him in place.

"Kukuku, this is my mental plane. An inner dimension where I crush of a person's mind and take their body for my own."

A few feet in front of Sasuke, a portion of the writhing mass rose up and formed into the Snake Sannin. Twisting his head in anger and slight panic, he could also see numerous other people, both male and female, trapped in cocoons of the pink things, with only their faces left uncovered.

Orochimaru snickered evilly. "They are the trapped souls of my previous vessels, Sasuke-kun. And soon you will be joining them. You came just in time, Sasuke-kun… Just in time to be my new body. And I shall finally have the Sharingan."

The things accelerated and soon they had almost fully covered him. Sasuke activated his Sharingan as well as his level two Cursed Seal, and began to battle the presence that he could feel weighing down on his mind.

For a moment he held firm, and even pushed Orochimaru's mental assault back a bit. It became a battle of wills and for a while they were evenly matched. But then, slowly at first, and a little faster with every passing moment, Orochimaru's will began to supplant his own.

Perhaps, if things had been different, the mental struggle would have had a different outcome.

Perhaps, if Sasuke had spent the last three years conditioning his body and mind by being constantly pitted against foes who were battling for their lives, rather than simply being 'eye-fed' jutsu after jutsu.

Perhaps, if he had spent the last three years with someone who always pushed and taunted him into training harder, rather than surrounded by people who constantly assured him of his own power.

Perhaps, Sasuke would have won the fight for his own body.

0°0°0°0°0°0

Kabuto took a step back when the door opened and 'Sasuke' walked out. He observed him carefully, trying to decide who had won control of the body.

If the vessel had been anyone else, he wouldn't have had a doubt about his master's victory. But Kabuto had heard how easily Uchiha Itachi had thrown off Orochimaru's attempt to steal his body, and while Sasuke wasn't nearly as strong as his brother, the power of the Sharingan wasn't to be taken lightly.

He hesitated a moment more before asking. "So, which one is it?"

'Sasuke' looked at him for a moment before giving a very familiar evil chuckle. "Kukuku… My, my, Kabuto-kun. Do you have so little faith in me?"

Kabuto smirked and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Of course not, Orochimaru-sama."


End file.
